Long before the end, gaps were appearing in the white half of Wembley Stadium. They had seen this show before. So had we all. The last time he was here Jose Mourinho served notice, winning the League Cup as the preamble to something greater. Here we go again. Rivals in the Premier League can count themselves officially told.

Chelsea deserved this for a display that advertised their finest qualities: a defensive cussedness, good organisation, bold decision making on the part of the manager and the certainty in front of goal that wins cups. 

John Terry collected an individual prize, too, the Alan Hardaker Trophy as man of the match. Rightly so. He scored Chelsea's first goal, was a rock at the back, as ever, and put in a blocking tackle late in the game that is now his trademark. Nobody throws himself towards the danger quite like Terry. It is as if he is taking a bullet for the team, or smothering a grenade. 

He is a Mourinho man, too, his determination the definition of a Mourinho team. Having scored five when these teams met at White Hart Lane in January, Tottenham must have fancied their chances here. In truth, they never had a sniff. 

Christian Eriksen hit the bar after ten minutes and Tottenham had plenty of possession, but mostly at arm's length from Petr Cech in goal. Not that this was a defensive display. 

Chelsea attacked, and scored when it mattered, either side of half-time to knock the stuffing out of Tottenham, but it was their resilience that impressed. The transformation since New Year's Day is the mark of an intelligent group. 

Shorn of Nemanja Matic – who delivered the pre-match team talk, and appeared with the team in full kit to celebrate at the end – Mourinho deployed his 20-year-old central defender Kurt Zouma in defensive midfield and watched him mature before Wembley's eyes. 

A difficult start with Eriksen running off him, soon became a controlled, commanding display. Who knows if he will one day be a Marcel Desailly type, as comfortable in the heart of midfield or in a back four as the occasion demands, but time is certainly on his side.

Just as ominous, for those tasked with stopping Chelsea claiming the Premier League title too, was the sight of Diego Costa returning to form. His goal may have needed a deflection off Kyle Walker, but it was his, and deservedly so. He was awkward, physically imposing, occasionally annoying, but utterly marvellous in the way he tests opposition defenders. There really is nobody quite like him in the English game and Chelsea had the last of his type, too: Didier Drogba.

Mourinho gave Drogba the last minute and a medal here, the old softie, and reintroduced Petr Cech, the goalkeeper that had taken Chelsea through three of the previous rounds. Michael Vorm had done even more in this competition for Tottenham, but was ditched in favour of Hugo Lloris. That was harsh from Mauricio Pochettino – he should have danced with the girl he took to the ball. Lloris now has a runners-up medal and Vorm, one presumes, a sense of resentment.

It is the poor relation, the Capital One Cup, and now that the Europa League winners get a pass to the Champions League, probably the fifth biggest prize in English football. 

Yet Mourinho does not treat it so. He regards it as the springboard for greater success, and talked up its role in this, his second term. His reaction at the end suggested this was no mere soundbite. He hugged, he cavorted, he struck daft poses in front of the winners' podium, and then sprinted round the back to mount the steps and join his players in bouncing like over-excited toddlers.

'Finals are not for playing,' Mourinho said, 'they are for winning. We did not have a problem today.' He did not mean it as brutally as it sounded. He said Pochettino was building a very good team at Tottenham, and he is right. There is great potential, but on Sunday that was all Tottenham showed. Chelsea looked like the winners; Chelsea looked like champions. 

It was a game that in many ways reflected the narrative strands of Chelsea's season. Eden Hazard got kicked a lot, Costa put it about a lot, and Mourinho waved his arms in fury. 

The game was only 41 seconds old when Andros Townsend left his mark on Hazard and when, five minutes later, Eric Dier squared up to Costa, a pattern was set. On this occasion, however, it was the Chelsea man whose behaviour merited, if not official censure, then certainly a quiet word. Dier's tackle on him was firm but fair, and there was no need for the shoulder contact Costa sought on rising. His behaviour can be a problem for Chelsea.

It is possible to have sympathy for the club over some of the errors that have cost them this season – particularly penalties rejected in vital matches – yet Costa's behaviour provides ammunition for the cynical, those who believe Chelsea deploy the dark arts and deserve any reversal that goes their way. He was certainly fortunate in the 28th minute, when he planted a hand in the face of Nabil Bentaleb. The Tottenham man stopped, probably considered making more of it, but decided against that.

By now, others were involved. Costa could easily have been booked but referee Anthony Taylor instead settled for keeping the peace. It was no surprise then that three minutes later Dier was booked for a foul on Costa – although it looked more ferocious than malicious. Chelsea can bring out the worst in folk.