Chelsea 1-3 Southampton
Jose Mourinho is adamant he is the best man for the job at Chelsea, despite another Premier League defeat on Saturday.
The Blues were outfought and outmuscled as a Southampton side full of vigour, pace and power ran out comfortable winners at Stamford Bridge.
Graziano Pellè and Sadio Mané were the architects of Chelsea’s demise, profiting from more poor defending from Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic to claim all three points.
“No way I resign, no way,” said Mourinho.
“Chelsea cannot have a better manager than me.
“There are many managers in the world that belong to my level, but no better.”
Willian opened the scoring with a 10th-minute free-kick, his fourth consecutive goal from a set-piece in as many games.
But Steven Davis’ equaliser in the 43rd minute from a chest-down from Pellè was a microcosmic example of Chelsea’s frequent and under-par defending this season.
Pellè bullied his marker, laid the ball off to the onrushing Davis, who was not closed down, and he buried his shot past Asmir Begovic.
The second came when Cahill’s poor touch saw the ball find its way to Pelle and he slipped a pass to Mané to slot home on the hour mark.
Southampton’s third from a counter-attack again involved Mané and Pellè, the Senegalese picking out the Italian who finished with aplomb.
Chelsea had a claim for a penalty but instead saw Radamel Falcao booked for simulation, prompting Mourinho to criticise referee Bobby Madley.
‘The referees are afraid to give decisions for Chelsea,” he said, risking another fine from the FA.
“At 1-1 it is a huge penalty and once again we don’t get it.
“The penalty was a giant penalty and after that the team lost even more confidence.”
Half-time substitute Nemanja Matic was later taken off in favour of Loïc Rémy, a decision that provoked boos from some fans, as had the removal of Willian.
“When the supporters booed the Willian decision, I would do the same as them if I didn’t know Willian was ill and vomiting at half time,” explained Mourinho.
“I decided to take Matic off and keep Oscar because he creates more.
“I kept Cesc Fabregas because of his formation at Barcelona he copes better with the pressure.”
Mourinho now has a two-week international break to work out the problems before hosting Aston Villa.
Feature image courtesy of Chelsea TV, via Youtube, with thanks
