Mourinho critiques Chelsea's tactics in dismissing United title talk

When asked about Manchester United's chances of catching table-topper Chelsea, Red Devils gaffer Jose Mourinho highlighted the Blues' defensive-minded play as an equally important factor along with the 13-point margin between the heavyweights.

Citing the fact that four of Chelsea's last six Premier League wins - on the way to a club-record matching 11 victories on the trot - have been by a 1-0 scoreline, Mourinho remained adamant that he won't opt for the same philosophy as Antonio Conte.

"You have to be honest and say that (catching Chelsea) is very difficult," Mourinho told The Telegraph's James Ducker ahead of United's Boxing Day clash with Sunderland. "It’s not just the difference in points, it’s also the Chelsea philosophy of playing."

Pot meet kettle, meet the two-time Champions League-winning manager.

During Mourinho's first of two spells at Stamford Bridge, the Portuguese purveyor of sound bites was maligned for "parking the bus" as Chelsea won the league in 2004-05, courtesy of an astounding eleven 1-0 results.

"They score one goal and they win. They defend a lot. They defend well. They are winning and, in the last 20 minutes, they bring defenders in," Mourinho added.

"They don’t care what people say, what people think. They just want to win. And, because of that, I don’t see them losing many points."

When legend and Total Football ambassador Johan Cruyff was asked about Mourinho's tactics ahead of a 2011 El Clasico tilt between Barcelona and Mourinho's Real Madrid, the Dutch wizard's response sounded familiar.

"It's a huge compliment for Barcelona when Real Madrid start the match at Santiago Bernabeu with seven defenders," Cruyff - who died last March - told the Daily Mail.

"This game confirmed that Jose Mourinho is a negative coach. He only cares about the result and doesn't care much for good football."

Five years and change later, and Mourinho's words sound eerily similar to Cruyff's.

For context, despite Conte's conservative tactics, Chelsea has scored 11 more times than United, and while Mourinho didn't want to be completely dismissive of his club's title ambitions, he was uncharacteristically ambiguous in his assessment.

"So let’s see where we finish, I don’t want to say fourth, because I think we can do better than fourth," he said.

"But we have the risk of not finishing fourth because the competition is so hard and the top teams have the same ambitions as we have. So I don’t want to say fourth or third or fifth."