Chelsea’s feat in winning the league so easily last year is over and done with now. The new season is upon us - West Ham played their first competitive game of the season this week - and Chelsea will be the team with the target on their backs.

But is retaining the title what Chelsea should be aiming for this season?

It’s true that you should aim high, that you should aim to win every competition that you enter let alone every game you play. But sometimes the progression of the team means you have to prioritise. Last season, Mourinho’s Chelsea weren’t too devastated to be dumped out of the FA Cup to Bradford. At the time, Chelsea were still looking forward to a Carling Cup Final, faced a tricky Champions League knockout round tie and still had Manchester City to contend with in the title race.

Perhaps by the end of the season Chelsea fans were wishing they still had the FA Cup to distract them from the monotony of Premier League games. After all, it was fairly boring in the title race from February onwards. A cup run would have been possible without the extra fixtures impacting the title chase.

The season before that Chelsea’s ultra-slim hopes of winning the title were dashed by Champions League commitments. A semi-final against Atletico was winnable, or so Mourinho thought, but not the title. Chelsea rested players for the league game against Liverpool - which they won - in order to rest players for the more crucial Champions League clash. So Mourinho does have a habit of prioritising.

And that might be what he does next season.

The league title last season will have relieved whatever pressure was mounting on the Chelsea boss after a trophyless season in his first season back in charge. Next season Chelsea will obviously look to kick on further and retaining the title will be high on Mourinho’s list of priorities.

But in his first spell at Chelsea, Mourinho won everything except the Champions League. He didn’t manage to win at Real Madrid either, but the fact that he has another chance at Chelsea - where he feels very much at home - is perhaps a reason why we should expect Chelsea to be targeting Europe more than the Premier League next season.

And they should target Europe. Chelsea are the last English team to win the Europa League and also the last to win the Champions League. They were holders of both competitions for about a week after lifting the Europa League, before Bayern Munich won the Champions League at Wembley.

Next season is about kicking on for Chelsea. They laid down a marker to the rest of the league last season, and they were easily the best team. They know that City will come back stronger, and that United and Arsenal will be much better too. Even Liverpool have done some good early business and could be a threat.

But just fending off those challenges isn’t enough. Mourinho will want to bring European success to Stamford Bridge himself, and English football needs to be competitive in Europe again. It’s been too long since an English team has reached the Champions League final, and with no English representation even in the quarter-finals of the Champions League last season, England’s coefficient rating can’t afford too many more seasons like that one. Chelsea are England’s best positioned team, and if they are the team prioritising Europe, they can do their league a big favour.

This season’s title race should be closer than last season’s, but a good season for Chelsea might not revolve around keeping a hold of their crown. A good season for English football might need Chelsea to go places in Europe though, and in the process they can tick a Champions League win at his beloved Chelsea off Mourinho’s bucket list.

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