Chelsea may have lost the title, but Jose Mourinho's men are not losers

Injuries to key players contributed to Mourinho and Co's inability to make it a hat-trick of Premierships. Those who ridicule the big spenders conveniently forget to mention the fighting spirit in the squad.

I will be speaking for many other Blues fans when I congratulate Manchester United for winning the title for the ninth time under Sir Alex Ferguson. I believe I would also be speaking for them when I say that winning the title doesn't mean the team deserved it, because backing what Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said in a post-match interview at the Emirates on Sunday, in the end, it doesn't matter whether they're deserving or not. What matters is which club has the most points.

United both deserved and did not deserve to win the title. Admittedly, they consistently played attractive football throughout the season. Plus, with very few injuries until recently, they definitely had the advantage. Chelsea had injuries throughout; from our talismanic captain John Terry to Arjen Robben, Didier Drogba and Petr Cech, we were always chasing the title.

United are not deserving because they escaped defeat several times through controversial penalties and dives (yes, something we are always accused of). Moreover, take Cristiano Ronaldo out of the squad and the result would have been devastating.

Had we won the title, we would have been criticised for buying our way to success; with the likes of Andriy Shevchenko, Michael Ballack Drogba, Ricardo Carvalho and Michael Essien. Now that we lost the title, we have become a laughing stock. Many of us have accepted that yet we can only feel pity for people who fail to understand us. The reality is that we we paid that much money not only to retain our crown this season but also for the long term. People who laugh that Shevchenko and Ballack are 'flops' are simply wrong. It seems people easily forget that Drogba was once a dry goalscorer, too. At present, he's one of the finest. Plus, how could Sheva possibly be a flop when he's considered one of the finest in Europe? Time is all he needs.

At Arsenal, we may have missed Drogba but did we miss Shevchenko and Ballack as much as we missed Carvalho? Or John Terry when he was knocked out in the Carling Cup Final? Or Peter Cech and Carlo Cudicini after the horrible incident playing Reading? Or Joe Cole and Arjen Robben?

In our defeat against Liverpool for the Champions League semi, we lost on penalties, and not because we were thrashed. Prior to that, we were hoping for a quadruple; now we're down to a measly Cup double, hardly the form of failures. Monday showed what we do best and what we do worst. Nothing could have been worse than getting a player sent off for a reckless challenge and giving away a penalty. To be a man and a goal down, while being under the pressure of a do-or-die situation, then come back to draw and retain our dignity was a feat in itself.

People can continue criticising us for overspending on players, laugh at us for not winning the Premiership or making the Champions League final, accuse us of cheating, diving and even not winning with a star-studded squad. But they can never hate us for fighting every single game with all our hearts.

At the end of the day, we hold our heads high, in the knowledge that even the best can fall.