Jose Mourinho has admitted he was forced to change Chelsea’s style of football this season as he feared that the club may not secure a top-four finish.
Mourinho made his return to Stamford Bridge at the start of the campaign but he has been unsuccessful in securing any silverware.
The Blues are still in the hunt for the league title but it would appear that Manchester City are the favourites to clinch the crown, sitting in third but just three points shy of top spot with a game in hand and better goal difference than leaders Liverpool.
The Portuguese says that he was concerned the west London club would not finish in the top four this season if he did not make some dramatic changes to the way they approached games.
The former Real Madrid boss refused to comment on when he made the change but Chelsea, who are priced at 16 to claim the title, have shown a marked improvement in form since conceding six goals in two games against Sunderland and Stoke in December.
Mourinho said: “I made the decision to stop that evolution in the style and philosophy of play and went in the direction where I felt it was the only way, with this team and these players, we could get results.
“I adapted. The team became more strategic and less intuitive from a certain point of the season because we went for results.
“There was a moment that I felt this Premier League was so dangerous; that the big risk for every one of the big teams was to be out of the top four.”
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