Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho stunned the media following a recent press conference that saw him single out a number of players for under-performing this season. The Premier League champions have started their title defence in woeful fashion, picking up just one point from their first two games, and Mourinho is far from pleased as a result.
He said: “We have one point from two matches. I’m not happy at all. I’m not happy with anyone. I’m not happy with (Branislav) Ivanovic‘s form, (Gary) Cahill, John (Terry), Azpi (Cesar Azpilicueta), Eden (Hazard), (Cesc) Fabregas and (Nemanja) Matic.”
The 52-year-old is rarely so critical about his own players, but it’s clear Chelsea’s poor start to the new season has affected him. It’s clear he’s losing trust in some of his players, particularly John Terry, whom he subbed at half-time in the Blues’ defeat to Manchester City. Mourinho even divulged his thoughts about making tactical changes for their coming games as a result of such a poor start.
Normally a tactically stubborn manager who rarely alters his setup from 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 during his second stint at Chelsea, Mourinho revealed drastic ideas to get the side performing again. “When you have strikers like we have, why not play with two strikers? When you have fast people like (Kurt) Zouma, (Cesar) Azpilicueta, why not play with three defenders? And now we are having time to do that because we have a week between games, so we are thinking about that.”
Mourinho has never made such radical alterations to his tactical setup in the past, nor has he publicly divulged his intention to do so. It could be a ploy for opposing sides to second-guess their lineup ahead of their next league game, or it could be that the Chelsea manager is running out of patience. They have a difficult trip against West Bromwich Albion to come, which is a potential banana skin given how the Baggies beat the Blues in this fixture last season (3-0), while taking a point in 2013/14 (1-1).
After winning the 2014/15 Premier League title by some distance, Chelsea were the bookies’ favourite to retain their crown. However, poor summer preparations have preceded a woeful start to the new campaign, and now Chelsea are under the spotlight. For Mourinho to actively throw some of his players into the fire is a risky ploy to get them to perform. West Brom have won three and drawn one of their last four home games against Chelsea, so the Londoners boss will be fearful of more dropped points.
Is Jose Mourinho starting to crack with Chelsea this season?
