Other
Premier League clubs should take Chelsea's lead if they are to be more
successful, and signing Gareth Bale would see them dominate for years to
come, says Gary Neville.
Jose Mourinho’s side wrapped up the title on Sunday, their first since 2010,
with a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge.
And Sky Sports pundit Neville, speaking on
Monday Night Football,
believes other clubs in England can use Chelsea’s playing style as a shining
example.
“Mourinho is the best manager in the league, by a mile,” said Neville.
“There seems to be this snobbery around football that everyone has to play
the most entertaining football.
“I can understand some fans saying "boring, boring Chelsea", but when
managers of other clubs comment on the style of Chelsea I find that
ridiculous. I can't understand it. They've got no right to.
“We watched all our teams get smashed in Europe this season, Chelsea to be
fair got knocked out this season and that was their one blip, but they
didn't lose, they actually drew in those two games against PSG.
“They are actually one of the best teams at killing games. Atletico Madrid
won La Liga last year, but they didn't win it playing Barcelona football.
They won it playing a different style.”
Neville, part of a Manchester Untied defence who won eight Premier League
titles and two Champions League crowns, admits other sides’ defensive
naivety compared to Chelsea’s offends him.
“When I watch the other teams play it offends me that they are so
defensively naive. It really does.
“I have to say that Chelsea are the best team by a mile. The rest of them
need to adopt the traits of this Chelsea team.”
Mourinho took Chelsea over in the summer of 2013 after the Blues had
finished 14 points behind Premier League winners Manchester United.
Neville says the transformation in the two years since has been nothing
short of a brilliant managerial performance by Mourinho.
“If
we'd have said at the end of the 2012/13 season that they were going to
abide by FFP, not spend as much as others, have a net spend of £54million,
have an overhaul of the squad and turn it into today's squad, you would say
that is an unbelievable performance.
“He's reduced the age, he's won the league, and it is a far stronger squad.”
Chelsea are now tasked with retaining the title, something only themselves
and Manchester United have done in Premier League history.
Going forward, Neville pinpointed the No 10 role currently occupied by Oscar
as an area where Chelsea may need to improve next season, as well as another
stronger partner next to Nemanja Matic for big games in midfield.
And if Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale should become available in the summer,
Neville insists that signing the Welshman could turn Chelsea into the sole
dominant force in the Premier League for years to come.
“There's one player touted about possibly coming available this summer, and
that's Bale.
“The talk is he's going to go to one of Manchester City, Manchester United
or Chelsea. If he becomes available, if Chelsea win that battle, and say
they lost Oscar or Willian and got him for a net cost of £25million, I think
the other teams are in trouble for the next few years, I really do.”
Fellow Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher agreed with Neville, and says that
the only accolade left on Mourinho’s CV is to build his own dominant side
over a number of years.
”Everywhere he goes, people always say he only does three years. It's got to
the stage where he has been to that many clubs and that many countries,
where else could he go?" Carragher said.
“The one thing left for him, to take him to a level maybe like Sir Alex
Ferguson, is to be there for a long time, build a whole club in your image,
look at the youth set up.
“That's the only one thing he's never done, had that huge period of success
at one club.”
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