WHEN YOU BUILD A HOUSE you do not start with the roof, according to that self-styled architectural genius José Mourinho, but the pace of change at Chelsea is such that he may soon be contemplating a loft conversion. Indeed, as Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger demean themselves with cod mind games that are as cerebrally challenging as Ker-Plunk! for beginners, their rival looks capable of walking across the penthouse swimming pool in his designer brogues.

It would be ill-advised to make rash predictions, given that Mourinho’s brief reign has involved refuting the wisdom of kneejerk reactions. Initially, the media once deemed his Chelsea to be terminally negative, an allegation at odds with a record of 14 goals from four league matches, while Wenger, too, might recall that Thierry Henry’s early days at Highbury saw him dismissed as an anonymous winger in mortal dread of tripping over his quivering bottom lip. Arsenal, themselves, were the greatest team we had ever seen until they hit the buffers and the buffet at Old Trafford.

However, there is something about Mourinho’s conviction that makes one suspect the tide has turned. Not only has he added a breath of fresh air to a fog of halitosis, but he has infused Chelsea with his boundless self-belief. When you are in thrall to the joys of your dressing-table mirror, that is no bad thing.

Arsenal are still capable of playing the most inspiring football in the Barclays Premiership, but their lack of a plan B has been the Achilles heel that has seen them founder in Europe. Chelsea, by contrast, sometimes look as though they do not know their art from their elbow and can grind out results as effectively as they can create works of beauty. Where Arsenal aspire to poetry in motion, Chelsea could be Pam Ayres on a morphine drip and still win.

This was a game in question. For half the match, Newcastle United shaded it as Mourinho’s three-man midfield was stifled by the calm authority of Jermaine Jenas and the energy of Kieron Dyer and Lee Bowyer. Problem posed, Mourinho answered by effectively playing with four up front. A minute after adding Wayne Bridge and Mateja Kezman to the mix, Chelsea were ahead. “It’s not about systems, it’s about people not doing their jobs properly,” Graeme Souness, the Newcastle manager, said. Given that Didier Drogba had space to head the ball to Frank Lampard, who had time to control it, take aim and fire before anybody twigged, he had a point. But Mourinho’s boldness was also telling. As much as opposing managers would like to think it, Chelsea’s ascent cannot be attributed to poor defending from Titus Bramble and his ilk.

Perhaps, Mourinho’s feat has been in forging a spirit and desire in the most expensively assembled squad this country has seen. This spirit was reflected when Kezman ended his goal drought by scoring an injury-time penalty after Shay Given had clattered into Damien Duff. If the second goal from Drogba had been clinical, embarrassing Bramble and curling into the corner, and the third from Arjen Robben cultured, Kezman’s chip was cathartic.

“Goals are my life, that’s me,” Kezman said. “Without goals I have a difficult life. You can see our spirit after I scored. Every single player came to me. That’s our strength this season. That’s how we can be champions.”

He may not have felt quite so positive when Newcastle took the game to Chelsea and forced Petr Cech to make fine saves from Laurent Robert and Craig Bellamy, but Bramble’s erratic efforts jarred against Ricardo Carvalho’s mastery of Patrick Kluivert at the other end. Robben and Drogba may be more commonly lauded, but the signing of Carvalho has probably been the most crucial to the team’s nascent resilience.

How Souness would kill for such a player to erase his own defensive conundrum and lay a solid foundation for the side’s attacking flair. “Titus might be the strongest man in English football but he can’t let that happen,” Souness said of his defender’s tepid efforts before the second goal. When you build a house . . .