If there is a more misguided chant on the terraces of English football grounds — misguided as opposed to ludicrous, as in lower-division clubs claiming to be “by far the greatest team the world has ever seen” — it is the one that accompanies every Chelsea goal. “That’s why we’re champions,” the London club’s supporters cried after Ricardo Carvalho’s equaliser against Manchester United yesterday, but, as José Mourinho would no doubt love to tell them, they are missing the point entirely.

Chelsea are not champions by virtue of the skill, flair or individual brilliance that admittedly abounds in their ranks. If they are to retain the title, it will be owing to their more prosaic qualities — pace, power, athleticism, yes, but also an indomitable spirit and a tactical structure that at times makes them look unbeatable.

For Mourinho, at the vanguard of the new wave of technocrat coaches, it adds up to football perfection, but it is not a brand of football that is likely to help Peter Kenyon, the chief executive, in his avowed mission to “turn the world blue”. In terms of this season’s title race, it may even have the effect of turning large parts of the nation Mancunian red. As admirable as their results over the past two years have been — and worthy of far greater respect than they have been given — the notion of Chelsea capturing hearts and minds across the country, let alone the world, is a hard one to grasp.

Chelsea are the closest thing to a machine that English football has witnessed. The Liverpool teams of the 1970s and 1980s and the United sides of the 1990s were merciless, but both were human enough to suffer slip-ups of a type to which Chelsea seem immune. To an English nation that is suspicious of sporting excellence, this makes them hard to love; far better the boxer with the glass jaw or the tennis player with the suspect temperament.

This United side, by contrast, is becoming more likeable.

Cristiano Ronaldo may have his enemies among Little Englanders, Wayne Rooney likewise on his native Merseyside, but this is a team that, without a midfield hard man (most of them having been snapped up by Chelsea), simply plays to its strengths, notably the attacking brilliance of Ronaldo and Rooney. That was not enough yesterday as they were ultimately over-run by Chelsea’s midfield in the second half, but many neutrals will hope that they show great powers of endurance in the title race.

Some felt it was with a view to winning hearts, as much as silverware, that Chelsea eschewed their recent transfer strategy last summer in order to plunder a marketplace that was previously the sole preserve of Real Madrid. Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko were star-studded purchases that seemed incongruous with a coach who had previously expressed contempt for Real’s galáctico system.

Three months into a season when they hoped to add an extra dimension to their play, Chelsea look more conservative than ever, while the two big summer acquisitions are no easier to fathom. Again yesterday Ballack was solid but far from spectacular in a midfield unit that is powerful but rarely easy on the eye. Shevchenko, meanwhile, went into the game with just three Premiership goals.

Whether or not Shevchenko comes good, Chelsea should be strong enough to retain the title for a third season, but will they have improved as a team from last season? And will they succeed in winning support of the levels Kenyon targeted last week? It is doubtful until they start to play football that stirs the soul, the type synonymous with United, Barcelona and Real. Money, after all, cannot buy you love.