After Saturday’s defeat to West Ham which left Chelsea 15th in the Barclays Premier League only one name was on the mind of journalists. Jose Mourinho. Twitter went into meltdown as speculation about his job increased.
The Portuguese tactician was under fire again after being sent to the stands after a confrontation with referee Jon Moss.
In all honesty, the dream of Chelsea regaining their Premier League crown has all but disappeared, alongside the form of Eden Hazard and Nemanja Matic, just a couple of the players who have been singled out for poor displays. Last season’s PFA Player of the Year, Hazard was once again at fault in Tuesday’s Capital One Cup defeat to Stoke, missing the decisive penalty in a tense game at the Brittania Stadium.
Already nine points behind 4th place Manchester United, Roman Abramovich will expect a steep upturn in form to give them any chance of Champions League football next season. Abramovich has never been afraid to blame the manager for poor form – just look at Roberto Di Matteo, Chelsea player turned manager who brought home the biggest prize in club football, the Champions League. In the very next season, he found himself out of a job, after a poor run of form.
But there’s something about Mourinho that epitomises Chelsea in a way a manager never has before. He loves to be hated, and he loves the controversy, controversy that any former Chelsea manager will tell you comes with the job. Throughout the game at the Brittania, Chelsea fans sang Mourinho’s name, he brings passion to fans which many a manager could only dream of.
On Saturday Liverpool take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, the meeting of two of the biggest characters in football…Mourinho vs Klopp. Liverpool have had a less than scintillating start to the season, sitting in 9th place, and after encouraging signs on Tuesday, Mourinho will believe this is a winnable game.
There would be no shortage of clubs interested in Mourinho is he is sacked, with rumours of potential clubs being Paris Saint-Germain and AS Monaco.
#Monaco shareholder Alessandro Proto : “Mourinho is the best coach in the world. In this there is no doubt.” #CFC (Diario Sport)
— ChelsTransfer (@ChelsTransfer) October 29, 2015
However influential Mourinho is, blaming him for player’s poor individual performances is unfair. It’s time for the players to stand up and be counted, and play for their manager. If not it could be the last time we see Mourinho at Stamford Bridge.
