Mourinho is the best by a long way,’ hails Terry as Chelsea are crowned champions

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is the Premier League’s best manager ‘by a long, long way’, Blues captain John Terryhas told talkSPORT.

The Stamford Bridge outfit celebrated their first top flight title in five years on Sunday following a slim 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace.

After blasting their way to the top of the table with an emphatic first half of the campaign, Chelsea have come under fire in recent months for their ‘boring’ style of play, with Mourinho’s negative tactics often blamed.

But Terry, who has played every minute of every Premier League game this season on the way to claiming his fourth title with Chelsea, believes the Portuguese is still the ‘special one’.

“Jose deserves a lot of respect; he’s the best by a long, long way,” the Blues skipper told talkSPORT.

“We were the best side up until Christmas and after that teams make it diffuclt, but Jose has found a way to beat them.”

On Chelsea finally being crowned champions, thanks to Eden Hazard’s scrappy goal against a battling Palace side, Terry added: “I’m delighted.

“We’ve been a different class this season and it’s even more special when we do it in front of our own fans.

“We set it up last week with a win at Leicester and it was a tough game today, but we managed to get over the line and we’re champions; it’s how we wanted to do it.

“We can enjoy this now. We’ve got a few days off now so we’ll go and enjoy it, for sure.”