FOR ONE LEAGUE MATCH DURING his managerial career in Portugal, José Mourinho wore a heart monitor as an experiment. The results, he claims, showed a man of extraordinary detachment. “The highest reading,” he said, “was when I ran to the dressing-room at half-time.”

The Chelsea manager claimed yesterday that a similar experiment done now would reveal even greater control of his emotions and, while he has not always seemed so unflappable (least of all in the Nou Camp last season), why shouldn’t he be a study in serenity? Rich, successful and a youthful 42, it is difficult to think what could trouble him even if we suspect that, with a new season looming, some rumpus or other is waiting around the corner.

It will have to be a big storm to blow Chelsea’s quest for English, European and world domination off course. On Mourinho’s professional horizons, Manchester United appear in discord while Arsenal, after the sale of Patrick Vieira, are in transition. Meanwhile, the Chelsea team that broke records on the way to winning last season’s Barclays Premiership title will have been improved by at least £50 million of talent (plus the return of Hernán Crespo) when Lyons cave in and sell Michael Essien. Chelsea for champions? The reasons are stacking up.

Mourinho’s rise and rise has just earned him a multimillion-pound deal with adidas and at the launch of that partnership in New York at the weekend, his new sponsors looked thrilled with their investment.

The Portuguese brings looks, charisma, rare talent but also that Cantona-esque whiff of danger. He makes headlines, the latest coming with his provocative declaration that Steven Gerrard’s decision to reject a move to Stamford Bridge (for the second summer running) would be felt by the Liverpool captain and not the English champions.

“Gerrard is a great player and we want an English core very much,” Mourinho said. “We normally play a midfield triangle and you can imagine that Gerrard and (Frank) Lampard, with (Claude) Makelele just behind them as protection, could be a very strong team but I think it is Gerrard’s loss more than Chelsea’s.

“Why? Because Chelsea have good solutions; a good team with the conditions to improve and a club which will be one of the best in the world in a short period of time. So when he decides not to join this club, I think it will be a loss for him, for his career.

“He can say ‘I was European champion at Liverpool’ and I have to say that is correct. But I can say to him in the next ten years we will compare trophies at Chelsea and trophies at Liverpool. And he will lose.”

The Gerrard barb comes just after Mourinho has claimed that he will not be drawn into the sort of controversies that overshadowed so much of last season. The truth is that he cannot help himself, particularly when it comes to answering questions about Arsenal, with whom Chelsea now have a full-blown feud in the wake of the Ashley Cole affair.

Mourinho speaks warmly of Sir Alex Ferguson — “for him to stay at a club like Manchester United for 19 years is incredible” — but he cannot, and does not want to, disguise his dislike of Arsenal. Asked how the clubs were getting on these days, Mourinho was pointed.

“There are no relations so no problems,” he said. “When you have a relationship, even a very close one with friends, parents or your wife, there are sometimes problems even when there is love. But if you don’t have a relationship, you have no problems.” Perhaps, but the fixture list will bring them together, starting with the Community Shield on Sunday, when the handshakes will be brief and insincere.

It is impossible to believe that Mourinho will last the week without lobbing more verbal grenades at Highbury, despite a promise not to seek trouble. Even his pledge of good behaviour was accompanied by a significant rider.

“I will try not to be involved with other clubs’ problems and managers’ comments,” he said. “I will try. But there is always a point of balance. If I feel it is too much and it is influencing the normal way of things, I won’t think twice. I won’t think about my image, I won’t think about the punishment, I will just jump in. If I feel my team needs protection, I will be there again.

“But I am doing it from a different perspective. I am thinking only about us and I hope other people will go the same way I go, thinking about their own teams and how to improve them. Because they know Chelsea was better than them last season and if I was in their place, I would be thinking about myself. I would be thinking ‘Chelsea was better than me so how can I improve to catch them up’.

“A lot of people think there is a big pressure on us but I don’t think so at all. There is a big pressure on other people. We were the best in the country for a long distance so if they want to win like they used to, they have to improve.”

Mourinho claims to see improvements in Chelsea’s rivals. He says that Edwin van der Sar, signed by United from Fulham, is among the best goalkeepers in Europe. “You can tell from the number of changes last season that they weren’t happy with the goalkeepers,” Mourinho said. “So with one purchase they are a better team. And Park (Ji Sung) is a good player, one more option.

“Arsenal lost Patrick Vieira but because they wanted to lose him. It is their decision so you can’t call it a loss. All their young players are one year older; (Francesc) Fàbregas, (Philippe) Senderos, (Mathieu) Flamini. And they also signed (Alexander) Hleb.

“It will be tougher this season because the others are better and we can’t do better. We lost only one game and we broke every record in the English game to win the title. How do you improve on that?” Chelsea, of course, start as clear favourites but you can be sure that Mourinho will not always be the master of his pulse.

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