Mourinho elated to end trophy wait

Captain John Terry's first cup final goal and a second-half own goal by Kyle Walker which Diego Costa is likely to claim saw the Blues prevail and Mourinho secure a third League Cup.

It was his 10th win in 12 major finals and his 21st trophy, in just his 15th year in management.

His first trophy in England, the 2005 League Cup, was followed by Chelsea's first championship in 50 years.

This time the Blues are well placed to win the Premier League for the first time in five years.

After ending his two-year trophy drought, Mourinho wants more.

"It's difficult for me to live without titles," Mourinho said.

"I need to feed myself with titles

This is important for me and the boys.

"For the club it's one more club, but it's the first one of a new team.

"You have Petr Cech, John Terry, Didier Drogba and, after that, everybody belongs to a new generation of players

So, as a team, very, very important."

It was also important for Mourinho, who was trophyless in his first season back at Chelsea following a disappointing final campaign at previous club Real Madrid, having enjoyed success throughout his career prior to that.

He added: "I started in 2000

I won the UEFA Cup in 2003, the Champions League in 2004

I didn't have time to process that.

"I went in a different direction, with two seasons without a trophy, and it looked like I was 20 years without a trophy.

"This is a good problem, to have that feeling that two years is a long time

That's a good feeling.

"For me, it's important to feel that I'm a kid

Before the game, that I had the same feelings as my first final however many years ago.

"It's important to feel the same happiness after the victory, and to feel a kid at 52 years old."

Mourinho celebrated the 21st trophy of his career by calling his wife, Matilde, from the tunnel.

"I had my son and my daughter here, but my wife was at home and didn't know the result until I call," the Portuguese said.

Chelsea's immediate focus turns to the Premier League, where they hold a five-point lead over Manchester City with a game in hand ahead of Wednesday's match at West Ham

City lost at Liverpool prior to the Capital One Cup final and Mourinho had hoped to hide the result from his players.

He added: "I knew that was an impossible mission, but I didn't want the television on in the hotel or on the bus.

"I told them (the players) I didn't want any kind of manifestation or disappointment if City scored in the last minute, or Liverpool won

I wanted complete silence.

"We were successful on that

But one member of my staff jumped up in the bus

Silvino (Louro, an assistant first-team coach)

I wanted to kill the guy

He broke the rule."

Mourinho described the Premier League title race as "difficult" and refused to discount Manchester United and Liverpool.

"It's in the hands of everyone," he said.

"We have lots of difficult matches to play

City have difficult matches

United are third, right? Nine points (behind)? They are in the title race too

Liverpool, I predicted that."

Mourinho paid tribute not just to his cup final heroes, but also to players who began the competition with Chelsea but have since departed, including Mark Schwarzer and Andre Schurrle.

He also praised Thibaut Courtois, who played both legs of the semi-final with Liverpool, but was replaced in goal by Petr Cech at Wembley.

"Without Courtois, no final," Mourinho said.

"Petr deserved to play this cup, knowing clearly that Courtois deserves the cup as much as him

He played an amazing semi-final."

Nemanja Matic, suspended for his sending off after reacting furiously to a challenge by Burnley's Ashley Barnes last weekend, addressed his team-mates prior to the match.

Mourinho said: "He made the speech in the dressing room expressing his pain not to be playing, and asking the players to express the pleasure he couldn't have to play this final.

"For me, the pain was to see a player play yesterday (Barnes) and Matic not playing today."

Defender Kurt Zouma stepped into Matic's midfield position and played with a maturity beyond his 20 years, with Mourinho comparing him with a World Cup winner and former Chelsea player.

"Our new Marcel Desailly worked hard in the week," Mourinho said.

"The kid did a fantastic job for us."

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino must now pick up his players after Europa League elimination and League Cup final defeat in successive matches.

Spurs resume their bid for a top-four finish and Champions League football against Swansea on Wednesday, with Pochettino proud of the Wembley performance.

"I'm disappointed for us, but proud," he said.

"We played much better in the first half, and we respected our style and philosophy.

"We were better than Chelsea, and unlucky to concede the goal we did

It was hard for us.

"We took some risks after that, because they could play on the counter-attack

We conceded a second, again with bad luck.

"We need to improve and learn

We will do from this final

This group has a very (bright) future.

"The challenge, now, is the next game

We can speak about the top four at the end of the season, but we must concentrate on Swansea.

"We need to move forward, forget the final, refresh legs and minds

But we need to take positives

We have more positives than negatives in this final."

Source : PA

Source: PA