Mourinho: I Have Been BETRAYED By My Chelsea Players

No team with 35-plus points after the first 16 games of a Premier League season has finished outside the top four.

When the fixtures were announced in the summer you’d forgiven for thinking that it would be with Leicester struggling for points at the bottom of the table while champions Chelsea fought it out at the top.

“One of my best qualities is that I can read the game and identify the strengths of the opponent and tell my players what they are”.

In the precise context of his comments, yes – he said he prepared his players to deal with Jamie Vardy’s movement and Riyad Mahrez’s propensity to cut inside onto his left foot, but they failed to execute his plan.

Mourinho: I think [Leicester] deserved to win because they were better than us during a longer period of time.

“They have to look to Sunderland and Watford and say we are at the same level as you are”.

Mourinho’s public proclamations have rarely eased Chelsea’s problems this season but Poyet feels a manager with such a phenomenal track record of success has earned the right to try and turn the club’s fortunes around. I don’t think they are training different or picking different players and a different system.

Asked whether he was 100 per cent convinced that he would still be in charge for the Sunderland game, Mourinho replied: “The only thing I can say is that I want to be”. In three of those matches, they scored 3 or more goals, and they have also kept three clean sheets.

Q: Is it hard for you watching some of those players, knowing they are champion players, knowing how good they can be and they’re nearly unrecognisable?

Mourinho: I don’t know any way than working at the top level – and that’s what I do every day.

Mourinho: His first reaction was “I can’t” and I was going to make the change.

“I have no doubt and I am not afraid of a big challenge”. We help each other, it’s true because you watch the match and we always look to press and immediately arrives the second and the third.

Mourinho: I don’t know.

“I accept we are in the relegation zone but I don’t accept we are in a relegation battle”, he said.

“Let me achieve 40 points and then I’ll think of our next goal”.

“We wanted to put on a fantastic performance for the fans because they are dreaming and we want them to continue to dream”, said former Chelsea manager Ranieri.

Already beset by reports that he is close to being axed by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, Mourinho hoped he had bought himself some breathing space after leading his side into the Champions League knockout stages last week.