Jose Mourinho believes he is in the same situation that he put Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United in 12 years ago.
Mourinho guided Chelsea to their first championship in 50 years during his first season with the club in 2005 and the Stamford Bridge side retained the Premier League by battering United 3-0 in their antepenultimate game of 2005-06.
Ferguson noted Chelsea's breakthrough title had 'raised the bar' and Mourinho seemed set to clinch a hat-trick by signing United target Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko in the summer of 2006. That same transfer window, Ferguson signed only Michael Carrick and West Brom reserve goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak, while Ruud van Nistelrooy was jettisoned and attempts to buy Bayern Munich's Owen Hargreaves and Villarreal midfielder Marcos Senna collapsed.
Remarkably, United went on to win the 2006-07 title, staying top for all but two weeks of the season, as Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo scoring 23 goals apiece in one of Ferguson's greatest title triumphs. Mourinho is optimistic United can emulate the Scot's feat in 2018-19.
"I always remember when Sir Alex said in 2005-06, we won the second title with Chelsea, we need to improve a lot because they have raised the bar to such a level," Mourinho said. "They [Chelsea] won two titles in a row, the second title was easier than the first and then the biggest manager in the Premier League said Manchester United needed to improve a lot. That was the click for the improvement of the team.
"In 2006-07 Manchester United won the title back. It has to be like that. That is why every match until the end of the season is an important match for us. It is not just about the points and finishing in the top four, which is important. Try to finish second. Try to play the best we can and improve the players individually the best we can and be the best possible team at the end of the season.
"Then we must try to start next season in a good way, like we did this season, but try to be consistent and try not to lose points like we did this season in some matches where we shouldn't."
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