Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has a self-confessed addiction: winning trophies.
It would be incorrect to suggest that any person, especially at the top level of the game, does not have an appetite for success, but Mourinho seems hungrier than most.After securing his first trophy for nearly three years with a 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the Capital One Cup Final, Mourinho ended the longest drought of his managerial career.
The 52-year-old last lifted major silverware when clinching the La Liga title with Real Madrid in May 2012.
The 34 months that have followed have seen Mourinho drip-fed on second-placed finishes in the Premier League and La Liga, a runners-up medal in the Copa del Rey and two semi-final appearances in the Champions League.
A hearty diet for many, but not for Mourinho.
“I see myself with titles,” the Chelsea boss said after securing the third League Cup of his career.
“It is difficult for me to live without them. I need to feed myself with titles.
“The two seasons [2012/13 and 2013/14] without a trophy have felt like 20 years. It’s a good problem to have that feeling and it’s important for me to feel the same way today as I did with my first final.
“At 52 years of age I feel like a kid, I need to have that same happiness.”
Mourinho’s first trophy arrived in the 2002/03 season with Porto when he was 40 and, in the 12 years since, he’s picked up domestic leagues and cups across Portugal, Spain, Italy and England.
Retaining that thirst for success is crucial to the man’s ethos, especially in a culture in which he believes winning trophies could become an increasingly more difficult task.
“This country is more and more difficult to win trophies in.
“Look at how tough it is to qualify for the Champions League, with seven teams playing for four places.
“That makes it more tricky to win the league. It is definitely much more of a challenge than in my first years in England.
“For Chelsea this is one more cup, but it’s the first one of a new team.
“Petr Cech, John Terry, Didier Drogba - they have won plenty with the club but after that it is a new generation of players.
“And it is not just a trophy for the likes of [Cesar] Azpilicueta, Diego [Costa], but I think also about [Andre] Schurrle, about [Mohamed] Salah.
“They are guys who started the season with us and are now not at the club, but the success is for them as it is the rest of the team.”