Jose Mourinho: ‘I will leave Chelsea if my players want me to’

Mourinho said: “People can say what they want”. There is always a question, always a critic. “We were punished by that”.

“We are punished because Diego Costa is suspended with images”. In other matches we see the same thing and it doesn’t happen.

He stressed that Chelsea can still qualify for the Champions League – which would be an unprecedented achievement based on their current position.

“We lost in Porto with a big penalty in the last minute in the face of two officials”. The team mentally, psychologically are down.

“Its like good players are bad players”. Terry reckons a lack of confidence is a major factor but maintains there will be a response from the players.

“But all the credit is how we played second half“. The penalty is a giant penalty. Their third goal is another individual mistake. They are in such a low moment that they collapse. It makes me realise how big I am.

He said: “In football it’s not impossible, but I think very hard”.

The Portuguese conceded his side’s most realistic target for the season is now to finish in the top four, with top spot already looking beyond them. And the message again is that if there are bad results, the manager is guilty.

When the club had asked him to return to the club two years ago they had told him they wanted stability rather than their recent history of serial changes of manager, he said. This is what I want.

The reigning champions have been struggling to find their best form this campaign and sit only 16th on the table following a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Southampton on Saturday.

“But it makes me understand how big a guy I am. They have got a few of the best players in the world in their team”.

“Doing that as a professional hurts me a lot”. If your leader is on TV going mental, I hesitate to think about what’s going on behind closed doors.

Coming from an altogether different stock I have witnessed the pain and suffering of seeing Chelsea get relegated from the top flight and almost slip out of the old second division (now called the Championship). I want to carry on, no doubt.

“In this moment it’s not so easy and my feelings – I’m so unhappy with the sport feeling of defeat but I am so happy with myself with the way I am facing this”, he added.

“The situation is so negative so maybe the younger players will not feel the pressure so much”, he said.

“Sadness brings sadness and bad results attracts bad results”.

“After 1-0 down we looked comfortable and of course to win against teams like Chelsea you need your best players on that high level”.