All posts by n8rngtd.top

Jose Mourinho says his first Chelsea team were the "best Premier League side ever", while taking a swipe at Liverpool's 2005 Champions League win.

• Mourinho managed Chelsea twice
• His first team "best PL side ever"
• Rages over Liverpool's 2005 'ghost goal'

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Fenerbahce manager Mourinho believes that his Chelsea side between 2004-06 tops the pile for the best-ever Premier League teams, edging out Arsenal's 'Invincibles' in 2003-04, as they secured more wins along the way. He also said that the Blues didn't win the Champions League in 2005 because there was "no goal-line technology", in reference to Luis Garcia's infamous "ghost goal" for Liverpool in the semi-finals of that year's tournament.

Advertisement

• Getty
  

  WHAT MOURINHO SAID

  When asked which team he left the most of his fingerprints on, Mourinho told : "I think my FC Porto stayed. I think Chelsea was the best Premier League team ever. It's been 20 years since that team. Arsenal were invincible, but they were invincible in one season. We were more invincible than them in two seasons. They won 38 games, we won 46. But those 46 were spread across two seasons. They were a fantastic team. We didn't win the Champions League because there was no goal-line technology. Inter won everything. But, for example, Roma gave me tremendous pleasure. I don't want to go so far as to say we made great omelettes without eggs; that would be disrespectful to my people, but winning the Conference League, even if it's the Conference, and reaching the Europa League final with the difficulties we had… For me, it was one of the most beautiful things. I managed to unite a club that wasn't united, bringing in the fans who had 'fled.' We made Rome empty twice when we reached both finals. It gave me special pleasure. Here at Fenerbahçe… The first year was like discovering a new world. Not even my Instagram, with some somewhat enigmatic or sarcastic posts, made people realize it. Today, we'll see if my experience helped me better prepare for this new season."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Mourinho will go down as one of the best Premier League managers ever and an all-time managerial great in football. But while his Chelsea side romped to the Premier League title in 2005, his team didn't go unbeaten in one season, and Manchester City and Liverpool have since eclipsed their points total, too.

• Getty Images
  

  WHAT NEXT?

  While 63-year-old Mourinho continues to draw headlines on a whole raft of topics, the ex-Real Madrid manager will hope his Fenerbahce side can beat Al-Ittihad in a pre-season friendly on Wednesday night.

Aston Villa are in a position where they may need to sell players to meet the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules and there is plenty of contention surrounding their situation from fans, pundits and journalists alike.

Aston Villa's PSR situation and who may leave the club this summer

In short, Aston Villa are one of the Premier League’s most at-risk clubs with PSR heading towards the deadline on June 30th. Per The Athletic’s projection, they can only lose £15 million in 2024/25 to remain within regulatory boundaries.

Unai Emery’s men have recorded a pre-tax loss of £206.2 million in the last two years, which is the highest deficit across the top-flight in that time and leaves the Birmingham-based outfit in danger of punishment.

Big money sales such as Jhon Duran leaving for Al Nassr and Leon Bailey’s anticipated move to Saudi Arabian outfit Neom SC have left hope that the Villans can evade any form of penalty.

However, they are teetering on the brink and their failure to qualify for Champions League football ended up being a massive setback, especially when Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio’s expensive loan deals formed part of their bid to secure a place despite already treading water in their efforts to balance the books.

There have been suggestions that Aston Villa could sell stakes in their women’s team to make ends meet, an option that remains active following a failed bill to cancel that practice after Chelsea flipped £90 million in losses to a £128 million profit in 2024.

Aston Villa now seriously interested in signing "aggressive" 13-goal rival

He could be on the move.

By
Tom Cunningham

Jun 5, 2025

Losing a maximum of £105 million over three rolling years is the limit for Premier League clubs in order to comply. Still, not everyone is happy at the rules that their clubs have to abide by to evade sanctions.

Journalist fumes at Aston Villa PSR latest

Taking to social media platform X, iNews correspondent Mark Douglas vented his frustration at Aston Villa’s need to sell and made the point that Newcastle United have suffered a similar fate in their efforts to progress as a club.

Admittedly, PSR has become a controversial topic among football fans for a number of reasons, with some feeling that the traditional ‘Big Six’ clubs are protected more than others due to the ease in making ‘pure profit’ sales or by filing via subsidiaries of their PLC’s entity.

Regulation is critical to promote fairness, though there are clear elements in the current system that leave a lot to be desired. Aston Villa find themselves in a frustrating situation and will need to meticulously ensure they don’t fall foul of the authorities.

Others will argue their wage to revenue ratio is a problem, brought on by decisions such as paying £227,500 of Marcus Rashford’s salary weekly during his stay. Either way, the rise of PSR over the last few years has become a contentious issue and continues to limit the progression of those attempting to challenge the traditional order.