Chelsea sack manager José Mourinho after disastrous start to title defence

[the4thjuliek.livejournal.com]

José Mourinho said his work had been ‘betrayed’ at Chelsea by the efforts of his players. Photograph: Jason Dawson/REX/Shutterstock

Chelsea have parted company with manager José Mourinho. The Portuguese returned to the club in 2013 and won the Premier League title last season, but having sunk to 16th place in the table, the Stamford Bridge outfit have dismissed their manager.

Mourinho’s side have lost nine league games this season, the worst defence of a Premier League title ever. The latest loss was to Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester City, 2-1 at the King Power Stadium. Afterwards Mourinho took the unusual step of criticising his players. “I feel my work is betrayed,” he said. “I worked four days in training for this match. I identified four movements where Leicester score a lot of their goals and in two of the four situations I identified they scored their goals. I went through it all with the players, you can ask them.”

After the defeat it had seemed a matter of when, not if, Chelsea’s owner Roman Abramovich would act, with the club in real danger of slipping into the relegation zone over the crowded festive period.

When asked after the Leicester defeat if he could hold on to his job, Mourinho said: “The only thing I can say is that I want to. I have no doubts and I think you know me well enough, three years this time, plus three years another time, that I am not afraid of a big challenge, and in this moment this is a real big challenge. I want to stay, I hope Mr Abramovich and the board want me to stay.”


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Comments

[jenny-jenkins.livejournal.com]

I would usually be inclined to agree - especially for his previous stints. But when Mourinho re-signed, he used the term "dynasty" - which makes me think that around 5 months ago, that was the feeling around the club. He'd be staying for a long time, bringing up youngsters etc... The length of the contract - even the obscene payout of 50 million Euros - suggests the club and the coach agreed this would be a "project". And perhaps that explains why there were fewer signings, and certainly less glamorous ones.

[untxi.livejournal.com]

to be honest, i (and i think most people outside, perhaps, Chelsea fans) never believed that. both because of Mourinho's restlessness and because Chelsea / Abramovich wouldn't magically change overnight from a trophy-hungry club into one patient & sensible enough to accommodate a manager with a long-term project. and them spectacularly chasing Mourinho out of the club at the first sign of trouble pretty much proves it. no, i think that was mostly a conveniently worded way of explaining Abramovich's backpedaling & something of an ideal 'excuse' for Mourinho for going back to a club that allowed him like no other (at least out of those available at the time) to do the thing he wants the most - win trophies - while simultaneously competing in the most prestigious league in Europe & staying in the country his wife and kids prefer.