They need at least a draw against Porto to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages or else the pressure would mount on Mourinho.
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When the team performed poorly about a month ago at the start of the new season, the decision to let Mourinho go was seriously considered by the board in charge of the club.
Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge this weekend was their eighth of the Premier League campaign, leaving them with an unacceptable total of just 15 points from the opening 15 games of the season.
With Diego Costa struggling, having scored just four goals in 18 appearances in all competitions so far this season, it appears as though strikers will be top of the agenda with technical director Michael Emenalo already assessing Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy, West Bromwich Albion star Saido Berahino and Shakhtar Donetsk forward Alex Teixeira, as reported by The Telegraph.
The team’s performances at the moment can not even be explained by anyone as they are now the defending champions of the English Premier League table but seem to have lost all zest and fight in them to even challenge for anything this season.
“I have to be honest and say I was not expecting this result”, Mourinho said. “That would push us up to the position I was expecting to be in before the end of December but this (loss) puts us, not in a unsafe position, but our objective is not to fight for relegation”.
“Punters may wish to use their free bet to back Mourinho to finally get his side on track with a win at league leaders Leicester on Monday week”.
“But I know the guy and I know the work he has done in football and I can’t see it lasting long, I can’t see it”.
The Scot replied: “Don’t read the papers, I think that would be a mistake…” “This is more about the players to do better than the club to go to the market”, he said.
“We lost the game exactly at the moment where we were the strongest team, in our strongest period”, he added. What must worry owner Roman Abramovich is keeping hold of his best player.
“Despite that, I think he’s the right man to turn things around at Chelsea”.
A string of crosses were delivered into the heart of the penalty box but, more often than not, visiting keeper Artur Boruc was able to watch the ball sail harmlessly to safety because no Chelsea player was on hand in the danger zone.
“If you analyse matches, and especially match after match, you can clearly identify a few players that it is hard for them to be consistent”, he said. Courtois proved his worth during the first half of the game, blocking Josh King at least three times, but failed to do the same in the 82nd minute, allowing Glenn Murray to hit home the only goal of the game.
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“The fact Chelsea pay huge wages is a bonus, but great players want to play in the Champions League”.
