Mourinho: Chelsea has good balance

LONDON—Jose Mourinho believes his Chelsea side have improved sufficiently in 2014 to justify their position as Premier League leaders.

A 2-0 victory over West Ham at Stamford Bridge on Boxing Day, courtesy of goals from John Terry and Diego Costa, kept Chelsea three points ahead of last season’s champions Manchester City.

The Blues, who finished third last season, will have their title credentials tested again against Southampton on Dec. 28, but Mourinho is confident his players can rise to the occasion at St Mary’s and finish the calendar year on top.

“We are a much better team when we have the ball,” he said. “Last year we were very strong defensively but lacked a bit of creativity when we had the ball. At the beginning of the season there was a little bit of conflict between those two ideas and we made defensive mistakes. At the moment we have a good balance.

Sunday’s trip to the south coast will see Mourinho renew his relationship with Southampton manager Ronald Koeman.

The pair were colleagues at Barcelona when Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal was in charge at the Nou Camp. AFP