Chelsea: Mourinho gets Begovic backing

“The coach has always been behind us and we are behind him just like the supporters are”.

Mourinho’s opposite number Mark Hughes, whose team knocked Chelsea out of the League Cup in a penalty shoot-out last week, admitted that overseeing a game against a dug-out without a manager was a first for him.

Zouma, 21, could not prevent the defending English champions from slipping to a seventh Premier League defeat in 12 matches as they were beaten 1-0 at Stoke City on Saturday.

But somewhere along the line, it all went awry for the Blues, and now Chelsea are 16th at the league table, a position that doesn’t translate the squad’s quality, nor our recent performances.

Meanwhile, there are rumors that current Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone is being eyed by Chelsea to replace Mourinho as the club’s head bench tactician next season as the former is said to be quitting his post at the Vicente Calderón Stadium.

Mourinho was not in attendance at the Britannia Stadium due to his one-match stadium ban and the result leaves the reigning Premier League champions just three points above the relegation zone, and 13 points adrift of the top-four places.

The hosts made a bright start, as Xherdan Shaqiri shot off-target, before Glen Johnson collected a pass from Bojan, turned on to his left foot and sent a placed shot towards the corner to force Asmir Begovic into a diving one-handed save against his former club.

After holding the horrific record of being the first Chelsea manager under the Abramovich reign to slump to three straight defeats, Mourinho seems to be standing on shaky ground. His criticism of players and staff have prompted many to question how much support he has in Chelsea’s camp, and his verbal barbs against referees have caused the Football Association to sanction him repeatedly.

“He’s the only one that can change it. If he’d said after the last game [at West Ham] “I was wrong, I didn’t need to do that, I was emotional”. If he’s lost the dressing room, and I think he has, he’s not getting it back so what’s to gain from giving him a stay of execution?

Matic is quoted as saying by the Sunderland Echo: “I think we deserve more”.

The global break could offer a convenient opportunity for owner Roman Abramovich to dispense with his services for a second time, but Begovic said: “We are behind the manager. We will try to recover points which we lost up to now”.