FC Porto humble Chelsea

“We have got a couple of days to look back on that performance”. Terry waved and applauded in return.

But the Champions League game on Tuesday night was hardly an anomaly in Chelsea’s poor start to the season.

Barcelona’s dramatic comeback was achieved without Lionel Messi, who is set to miss two months with a torn knee ligament, and the team’s injury worries grew when Andres Iniesta was forced off in the second half with an apparent thigh injury. “Unacceptable mistakes”, said Mourinho. “The ball is stopped, you defend the spaces or the man or both, but to concede the second goal was like ice in the players”.

Mourinho once made a statement at Real Madrid by dropping Iker Casillas and a rotten relationship ensued.

The decision to travel without an extra striker backfired, as the Portuguese did not have an established forward to call upon despite seeing his team fall behind twice in the 2-1 defeat.

Conceding two late goals meant that Newcastle still have only their local rivals Sunderland beneath them at the bottom of the table, neither side having yet won in the 14 games between them. That is why they need Terry back in the side. We have two home matches in the Premier League and need two good results.

“So for me, I don’t think my players deserve me to be critical at them”.

Branislav Ivanovic, in contrast, is certainly playing badly enough to be on the bench and yet he continues to feature. This three points are totally deserved. He is unlikely to still be at Stamford Bridge next season. “They’ve had the worst start to a season I can remember, it’s been awful”.

Chelsea forward Diego Costa has said that loss of confidence may be the reason for the English football champions’ recent setbacks. We have more games coming and we have to stay focused. “It’s not a good moment now. We are all very happy, we played a great match and now we have to savour this victory“. There was also a tacit admission from Costa that Mourinho was right about the players’ attitude, which he criticised so bluntly on Monday.

Before heading back to his old stamping ground Mourinho warned his misfiring Chelsea stars that no one was safe from the axe, and he proved true to his word as the underachieving Eden Hazard and Nemanja Matic were left out of the side. “It was tough and unfair to go to the dressing room at half-time with a draw, but we reacted well”.

“So it all adds up for it being hard for the Premier League teams”. He’s a key player for us…a player who has to score our goals and finish our moves.

“You see Porto last night”.