Players to blame for Chelsea’s demise

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has been heavily criticised this season, but his players need to take the blame for the Blues poor campaign

Chelsea suffered yet another defeat in the Premier League on Saturday, as Liverpool came to Stamford Bridge and left with a 3-1 victory.

The defeat left reigning Premier League champions Chelsea in 15^th position in the table.

The Blues face a crucial Champions League clash with Ukrainian champions Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday night in a game that could help dictate the future of under-fire boss Jose Mourinho.

Inexplicable fall from grace

This season Chelsea’s struggles are hard to explain. They have nearly the same set of players with the likes of Pedro and Asmir Begovic added in the summer, yet they look like they could not win a tug-of-war with a set of toddlers at the moment.

The Blues have suffered six defeats this season in the Premier League, which is twice as many as they suffered in the whole of last season. The players are performing more like relegation favourites, than title favourites.

Blues boss Mourinho seems to have tried everything from criticising the tea lady, to sacking the club doctor, which may come back to haunt him in the near future with a lawsuit pending.

It seems just nothing has gone right for Mourinho and Chelsea this season. Even the best managers need a bit of luck and he seems to be all out of that at the moment.

The Special One

I am a major fan of Jose Mourinho the manager, even if I am not so keen on his behaviour towards opponents and media at times. He is simply a special football manager and in years to come will be remembered as a legendary boss.

He is a master tactician and at times has mastered the art of psychology to disrupt opponents, but even his mind games are failing this season. His record in Europe’s biggest leagues cannot be argued with.

He has won league titles in four different countries and between 2003 and 2012 the Portuguese boss did not go a year without picking-up a trophy, which is quite exceptional.

The question for all those Mourinho doubters out there would who would be good enough to replace the Portuguese boss? There are not many bosses that I can think that could replace such an iconic boss at Stamford Bridge.

There are few modern bosses who have managerial records that are comparable to the Chelsea boss. The likes of Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola are probably the only currently active bosses that would come near Mourinho when it comes to trophy hauls.

Ancelotti has already managed the Blues and was pretty successful, before being sacked by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich for failing to win the Premier League title. The Italian is currently out of work and has been linked with a return to Stamford Bridge.

Guardiola is constantly linked with a move to the Premier League, with Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United all linked with making moves for the Spaniard. A key factor for Mourinho’s future could be the fact that Guardiola’s contract at Bayern Munich expires next summer.

 ‘He’s lost the dressing room’

‘He’s loss the dressing room’ seems to be the popular cliché to spout when teams are under-performing, especially under previously successful bosses. However the players are the ones who decide the fate of their managers with their performances.

Mourinho has a reputation for being popular with his players, but the players recent performances suggests that a few Chelsea players are not that keen on Mourinho’s presence at the club anymore.

English Footballer of the Year Belgium international Eden Hazard seems like his head is somewhere else, and if newspaper rumours have any truth in them then that place is Real Madrid.

Hazard would struggle to get in the Villa team at the moment. Just like his team, Hazard has gone from the best in the top-flight to struggling to find any sort of form this season.

If the players are behind Jose Mourinho Wednesday night’s game against Dynamo Kiev is a chance for the players to prove that. However, most of the games this season have been chances for the players to prove that they are with their under-fire boss and so far have failed.

It seems Mourinho has to come up with a solution to his team’s rock-bottom confidence and low morale, and very quickly. He also needs to win his players back and if he can do that he still has a chance to save his job.

The Blues look too far behind to retain their Premier League title and maybe Mourinho will be sacked by Chelsea this season, but he will still be regarded as a hero by the real Blues fans, who will realise what sort of effect the Portuguese boss has had on their club over his two spells in charge.

Who could replace Jose Mourinho at Chelsea?