Nemanja Matic has dismissed criticism of Chelsea's performances as they secured the Premier League title, saying: "Nobody will ask in five or 10 years how we played, if we enjoyed being on the pitch or if the fans enjoyed it."
Chelsea clinched their first title in five years by beating Crystal Palace 1-0 on Sunday after a highly impressive run of results in recent weeks.
However, while Jose Mourinho's men have not been beaten in the league since New Year's Day, questions have been raised over the manner in which they have ground out results in the latter part of the season, including the 1-0 win against Manchester United and 0-0 draw at Arsenal.
Matic, though, said securing wins was all that mattered during the run-in.
"Sometimes it looks like you enjoy playing, sometimes not," Matic told newspapers including The Sun. "When you are close to winning the title, there is more pressure and you don't want to lose. That is the most important thing every game.
"If you can win three points, nobody will ask in five or 10 years how we played, if we enjoyed being on the pitch or if the fans enjoyed it. They will just look at the table. This is the most important thing.
"When you know the whole country looks to you, and wait to see what you're going to do, and when you play at home and you need to win to be champions, of course you have some pressure, but that is why we play at this stadium and that is why we play for Chelsea, because we know how to cope with that."
Despite the criticism, Chelsea did play a more attacking brand of football in many games earlier in the season, including January's spectacular 5-0 win over Swansea.
Matic, though, said his favourite performance had been February's 1-0 win at home to Everton, when Willian's deflected strike in the 89th minute secured the points.
"We showed character -- not only today but all season," he said. "There were many, many good games but, for me, our best game was at home against Everton when we won 1-0.
"I know 1-0 is not a big result but, for me, we played very well and scored in the last minute -- and we deserved that because we attacked always."
The Serbia international said Chelsea may find it more difficult to win the title next season.
"Every season is different and I expect a very hard season because next year the teams are going to fight more against us as we are champions," he said. "In the Premier League you always have five, six teams who want to win the title. Next season is going to be the same.
"It's going to be hard for us, but we showed this season that we are always dangerous, and that we can always win."