VIEW FROM THE ENEMY: Chelsea fan on sacking Mourinho, re-signing Mata and upsetting Arsenal fans

In preparation for the 2014-15 season, The Republik of Mancunia has spoken to fans of all the clubs in the Premier League about last season, next season, their own clubs and their thoughts on United.

Rory Jennings has a season ticket at Stamford Bridge. Follow @ChelseaRory on Twitter.

Scott: How did you rate 2013-14 for Chelsea?

Rory: I will always be a little disappointed with any season that ends without a trophy. However it was about as good a season as you can get without adding to the silverware collection. We had some huge results and the type of performances that only a Mourinho side is capable of. Some of the results and performances were outstanding. The PSG win having lost 3-1 away was a brilliant night at The Bridge. Eto’o bagging a hat-trick against you boys, winning away at the Etihad when the world wrote us off and Giving Wenger a 1000th game he’ll never forget were my personal highlights. Alongside these, Smashing Tottenham never gets old and Steven Gerrard completing his hat-trick of brilliant Chelsea related moments were particularly enjoyable. You’re welcome for that by the way…

Scott: Good ol’ Stevie! Who was your best performing player?

Rory: Azpilicueta. Playing on the wrong side of defense he managed to hold his place with England’s rightful left-back breathing down his neck. Mourinho said something along the lines of “I’d win the quadruple if I had 11 Azpilicueta’s.” I’d completely agree with that assessment.

Scott: Haha. Whaaaaaaat? You fancy him to be your most important player this season too then?

Rory: Costa is the final cog. We have been saying for a while that the only thing standing in our way is a decent centre forward and if this boy proves to be the man that we hope he is then we are going to be a force. Equally though, if he goes the same way as Fleck, Sutton, Torres, Shevchenko, Casiraghi etc, who all for different reasons, didn’t have the impact that we hoped, I fear it could be another nearly season.

Scott: Are you happy with the job Mourinho is doing?

Rory: 100% unequivocally yes.

Scott: If he wins nothing again this year, is his job safe?

Rory: Probably not, unfortunately. But according to Mourinho himself, if you aren’t winning cups you’re job shouldn’t be safe. The standards to which he holds himself demands that some silverware is collected this season.

Scott: What do you think Chelsea will achieve this season then?

Rory: The Champions League Final in Berlin doesn’t sound like a bad night out does it? Being played off the pitch against Atletico at home was painful. If Costa comes good I really don’t see why we can’t do it. I think the Premier League is going to be incredibly tough to win this year, we are in with a very strong shout but more fans than ever are having the same thoughts.

Scott: You’ve mentioned Costa a couple of times now. Are you happy with your performance in the transfer window this summer?

Rory: Yes. We had 3 objectives. Buy a striker, replace Frank Lampard and source a left back to free up Azpilicueta to play on his rightful side. The club have addressed all these issues perfectly so its just a case of hoping that the 3 new boys are up to the job.

Scott: Are you looking forward to how much Fabregas is going to piss off Arsenal fans?

Rory: Oh yes. Well the divvy ones at least. The majority of Arsenal fans I know didn’t want him back. They concede that he is a brilliant player but remember him going on strike to force a move to Barca through. They rightly don’t want him. But the wallys who will hold a grudge against him are my favourite. They try to convince themselves that he is past it, they argue that Jack Wilshere is a better player than him and say that he failed at Barcelona, despite winning the league, both cups and the World Club Trophy, these people are my favourite. Singing about Ashley Cole winning the European Cup and reminding them that their former captain signed for us for his peak years may just about convince me to pay the extortionate entrance fee they charge.

Scott: We pinched your best player last season. If you could have one United player, who would it be?

Rory: Voting with my heart its Juan Mata. He will always be a special player for a lot of Chelsea fans. Some questioned his fight and commitment but he is intelligent, fashionable, passionate, brilliant, had a picture of the old Shed on his wall, was very sad to see him leave. However, if we really could get one player it would have to be Rooney. He is horrible and I feel sorry for you that such a div is going to break all of your records but if we had Rooney last year we would have won the league at a canter. A proven centre forward who runs his socks off and scores 20 odd goals a season is exactly what we need.

Scott: Imagine just how much worse we would have been without him! Can you believe United were as bad as they were last season?

Rory: Of course not. You were champions. You added Januzaj and a £30 million midfielder and had our best player of the previous 2 years for half the campaign. It’s some achievement to go from top to 7th. Was hoping that you were going to do just well enough not to sack Moyes.

Scott: How do you expect United to perform this season?

Rory: Well sadly. I think you have solved a problem like David Moyes really well. I hope I am wrong but I think Van Gaal is the perfect man to move out of Moyes’ shadow.

Scott: Who do you think will win the league?

Rory: Chelsea. But think its really tight. City as champions and Liverpool as best challengers will believe they can. Arsenal are certainly a force and will fear that ending nearly a decades wait for a trophy will kick them on. I also worry that with no European football you could do it. It’s one of the main reasons Liverpool were in with a shout last year, they played about 40 games. When you think how many league points are dropped after a European fixture if Van Gaal gets it right, I wouldn’t be surprised to see you right up there.

Scott: Here’s hoping! Cheers Rory.