The pressure is piling up on Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho after his side suffered a 3-1 loss to Everton at the weekend. The defending champions currently sit in 17th place with four points from five games and their closest title rivals, Arsenal are in 4th place with 10 points. This has been Chelsea’s poorest start to a season for over two decades and with the form that current leaders Manchester City are enjoying, it seems as if Chelsea’s title defence is set to end in failure. The problems that Mourinho is currently experiencing do not stop with Chelsea’s abysmal start to the season, it’s also been speculated that a rift is forming between him and his staff.
On Saturday, 12th, Mourinho wasn’t in a good mood which showed in his pre-match press conference when he walked away after being asked about John Stones, a player whose signature Chelsea failed to secure. After the match Mourinho’s mood had clearly worsened when he interrupted Everton manager Roberto Martinez’s post-match press conference and left swearing after their short exchange. The start that Chelsea has made to the season is very uncharacteristic of a Jose Mourinho side and they have a huge task ahead of them if they’re still looking to defend the title.
Jose Mourinho, a manager that is known for being a master of mind games, has been more irritable this season than usual. He has been surrounded by headlines since the opening week of the season and the results this season has only caused speculation to intensify.
During Chelsea’s game against Swansea, Chelsea physios Eva Carneiro and Jon Fearn rushed out to treat Eden Hazard during a Swansea counter attac,k which left Mourinho visibly upset and subsequently the duo were given a stadium ban by the Chelsea manager.
Mourinho’s treatment of the physios, especially Carneiro hasn’t gone down well with many people associated with the club and he has reportedly struggled to motivate the dressing room as a result.
Chelsea were heavily tipped to retain the title at the start of the season, however the recent developments with the Football club will see them fortunate to catch up with their title rivals by Christmas.
Mourinho has denied that he is under pressure but reports state otherwise, with his players supposedly unhappy at the football that he has them playing.
Mourinho is known to build his sides defensively as well as having them play organised football but players such as Hazard, Willian and Oscar are said to want to play more free flowing football.
Mourinho and star striker Diego Costa are reportedly on bad terms after Costa spent a lot of time partying last season. Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is known to be impatient with managers and will be looking at other options should Chelsea’s performances not improve quickly. Mourinho will be looking to jumpstart Chelsea’s season when they take on Arsenal at the weekend; if they fail to win that match then the writing may be on the wall.
