Jose Mourinho insists winning trophies at Chelsea is EASY as he cranks up pressure on Thomas Tuchel

Jose Mourinho has cranked up the pressure on Thomas Tuchel by claiming winning trophies at Chelsea is easy.

The Tottenham boss lit the blue touchpaper ahead of Thursday’s London derby when he said: ‘I don’t think it’s very difficult to coach at Chelsea because I was champion three times, Carlo Ancelotti was champion, Antonio Conte was champion.

‘It cannot be very, very difficult because we won titles there. Chelsea always have great players and great squads and good coaches are happy to work with these clubs and with players who give you a very good opportunity to be successful and win titles. In my case, I was there in two different periods and I was champion in two different periods.’

Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard last week, and has picked up four points from a possible six so far. But former Blues boss Mourinho has warned his German rival, whose last job was with Paris Saint-Germain, that he can only be recognised as a top coach if he is successful in English football.

‘What I think makes a coach elite is to be successful in the top leagues, to be successful in leagues in a different dimension,’ said the Portuguese.

‘I am not talking about Thomas, the French league is a very competitive league — apart from PSG because they play in a different league. The biggest challenge for a coach is to work in the best leagues. Our league is the most challenging one. 

‘He was coming from a league that you cannot compare with the Premier League but he is used to working with players of high calibre, used to important players. He will fit well in a club like Chelsea.’

Tuchel paid homage to Mourinho before their first duel, hailing his ‘outstanding career’, and agreed that it is ‘not possible to compare’ managing PSG to managing in the Premier League.

‘Jose’s right,’ Tuchel shrugged. ‘It’s a big difference. I absolutely agree. Different culture, different attitude, different way to play. There is no better and no worse but for me it’s very different.’ Tuchel also saluted Mourinho’s progress in toughening up Spurs.

‘Jose is a winner,’ said the new Chelsea boss. ‘It’s clear what he stands for. He builds competitive teams. He builds strong teams. He has built a Tottenham squad with characters like (Moussa) Sissoko and (Pierre-Emile) Hojbjerg: super-competitive, hard-working guys who support the defence.

‘Up front they have outstanding quality and speed.

‘I have the biggest respect for him because he is building teams on the highest level to compete and win game after game after game. It’s what he’s doing at Tottenham. I want to implement the same in my teams. We’re doing it in our style, with our beliefs. Everything is allowed. There are many ways to succeed.’

Meanwhile, Mourinho has held talks with Dele Alli after the midfielder’s protracted move to PSG fell through. ‘I had a good conversation with him yesterday, I think we found a very common ground. It is an important period of the season for the team and for him,’ said Mourinho.‘We need a good Dele Alli. We are just waiting for him to be back to normality, to training with the team.’

Mourinho is hopeful Harry Kane could be available next week following his double ankle injury.