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Should Jose Mourinho Be Fearing His Chelsea Future as Pressure Mounts?

Garry Hayes@@garryhayesX.com LogoFeatured ColumnistAugust 30, 2015

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STAMFORD BRIDGE, LONDON — The curse of the P struck for Jose Mourinho again on Saturday when Alan Pardew's Crystal Palace inflicted just his second home defeat in 100 Premier League games as Chelsea manager.

It means Mourinho's last seven league defeats have come against managers whose surname begins with a P.

If that unfortunate pattern is nothing more than a quirk, the comparison with how Mourinho's first spell at Chelsea ended isn't.

Indeed, such is the feeling of unrest at Chelsea right now. Talk in the press room after Palace's 2-1 victory led to whether there was a possibility another P could soon haunt Mourinho: his P45.

On the surface, it seems ludicrous. Just four months ago, the Chelsea boss delivered on his mandate to return the club to the top of the pile in English football. They were being crowned champions and, having led the Premier League table from Game 1, looked impervious.

Recently, Mourinho put pen to paper on a new four-year contract to keep him in west London until 2019.

That aside, there are worrying signs things are beginning to go south at Chelsea.

In 2007/08, Chelsea weren't reigning champions, as they are now. Manchester United ended the Blues' brief dominance of the Premier League, and given the way the new season started, it was clear things weren't going to swing back in Chelsea's favour any time soon.

There was talk of unrest in the boardroom, an ongoing feud between manager and owner, which was having an impact on things on the pitch.

Chelseas Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois reacts as the Crystal Palace team celebrate Crystal Palaces first goal during the English Premier League football match between Chelsea and Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge in London on August 29, 2015. Crysta
IAN KINGTON/Getty Images

Chelsea's first eight games in all competitions saw them win just three times. And those games they did win were hardly in convincing fashion, beating each of Birmingham City, Reading and Portsmouth by a solitary goal.

Aside from Community Shield defeat to United on penalties, Chelsea only lost once in those eight games. But that defeat to Aston Villa told us everything we needed to know.

Chelsea's problems weren't just with a lack of quality personnel or a better Premier League: It was equally the manager, whose focus had been shifted.

And like now, losing at Villa Park took Chelsea into the international break. When they returned a fortnight later, a limp showing against Rosenborg in the Champions League was the final straw, and Mourinho paid the price.

Chelsea's first 8 games in 2007/08
August 5Chelsea 1-1 Manchester United* (United win 3-0 on pens)
August 12Chelsea 3-2 Birmingham City
August 15Reading 1-2 Chelsea
August 19Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea
August 25Chelsea 1-0 Portsmouth
September 2Aston Villa 2-0 Chelsea
September 15Chelsea 0-0 Blackburn Rovers
September 18Chelsea 1-1 Rosenborg
Soccerbase

The harmony was gone, and everything else went with it.

Other than the medical debacle, there haven't been stories leaked from the dressing room about feuds inside Stamford Bridge just yet, but results on the pitch mean the pressure is mounting on Mourinho, reigning champion or not.

There were times on Saturday when he looked bereft at what he was watching. More concerning, though, was that he didn't seem to have the answers to counter a Crystal Palace team that was outsmarting his own.

An admission in his post-match briefing with the media that he actually wanted to make four substitutions rather than the regulation three all but confirmed it.

Chelsea's Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho gestures during the English Premier League football match between Chelsea and Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge in London on August 29, 2015. Crystal Palace won the game 2-1. AFP PHOTO / IAN KINGTON

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"I cannot say that I had 11 players who, at the same time, were performing," he said.

"To be fair, two or three of them, their individual performance was far from good. I blame myself for not changing one of them because I kept him in the game for 90 minutes.

"When I made the third change, I realised I needed a fourth, and I don't have a fourth."

It was brave of Mourinho to make such a confession, as it only served to feed the growing frenzy that surrounds Chelsea right now.

It implied Chelsea's first XI was so bad on Saturday that the manager's hands were tied, much as they have been in the beginning stages of 2015/16.

Chelsea's poor start to 2015/16
August 2Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea
August 8Chelsea 2-2 Swansea City
August 16Manchester City 3-0 Chelsea
August 23West Bromwich Albion 2-3 Chelsea
August 29Chelsea 1-2 Crystal Palace
Chelsea FC

Mourinho is questioning his own judgement to the point he's not confident making just three changes to turn things around and improve—he wants, and needs, more.

Is that a sign of a manager who doesn't trust the players he has? Or does it indicate something much bigger, that he's feeling the pressure of Roman Abramovich's gaze and it's making him erratic?

One thing we do know is that Chelsea are all over the place. It started with an unconvincing opening-day draw against Swansea City, which was compounded by a 3-0 loss to Manchester City a week later.

The panic set in when John Terry was subbed at half-time in that game for Kurt Zouma. Things haven't looked right since.

Even when Chelsea recorded their first win of the season, against West Bromwich Albion, they had to stumble over the line.

WEST BROMWICH, ENGLAND - AUGUST 23:  Branislav Ivanovic of Chelsea is unable to stop James McClean of West Bromwich Albion during the Barclays Premier League match between West Bromwich Albion and Chelsea on August 23, 2015 in West Bromwich, United Kingdo
Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images

Defensively, there is a lack of cohesion that stems from Branislav Ivanovic's rapid decline at right-back, which Mourinho refuses to acknowledge.

The Chelsea boss was asked which player he wanted to substitute against Palace but didn't.

"It's the one thing I'm not going to tell you," was his response.

When asked about Ivanovic's form, the answer was much the same: "I'm not going to analyse individual form [or] individual performances. I can't do that."

What Mourinho could have done was remove the Serbian from the game, which he didn't. Instead, it was Cesar Azpilicueta who was taken off to give Kenedy his Chelsea debut as Chelsea sought a way back in.

As Azpilicueta is naturally a right-back playing out of position on the left, it was a strange decision given how Ivanovic has struggled in Chelsea's opening games this term.

We saw it against Arsenal in the Community Shield, and every team Chelsea have faced in the Premier League has exploited him.

Chelseas Serbian defender Branislav Ivanovic (L) vies for the ball with Crystal Palaces Ivorian-born English striker Wilfried Zaha during the English Premier League football match between Chelsea and Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge in London on August 2
IAN KINGTON/Getty Images

There's a gaping hole in Chelsea's defence, and it needs to be filled. The opportunity for a change was there on Saturday, yet Mourinho didn't take it.

In the first half at Stamford Bridge, Wilfried Zaha and Pape Souare doubled up on Ivanovic before Yannick Bolasie's introduction after 55 minutes ensured the horror show continued.

It was down Chelsea's right where the threat came all afternoon; Gary Cahill and Kurt Zouma were constantly tested with crosses into the box that led to panic the more they were delivered.

Ivanovic carries a portion of blame for his performance, but what of the manager who had the power to replace him?

Every one of the 41,581 fans in attendance saw it, yet Mourinho never attempted to remedy it.

It's not a problem that sits in isolation, either. It's symbolic of what we've seen at Stamford Bridge since May.

Chelsea FC News @Chelsea_FL

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Chelsea's weaknesses were laid bare at times in 2014/15 and the expectation was that those frailties would be addressed.

By acting so late in the transfer window, Chelsea have significantly wounded themselves. In the same way Mourinho has been reluctant to act with Ivanovic, a lack of strength elsewhere is making things doubly painful.

In their next Premier League game, Chelsea travel to Everton and will most likely come up against John Stones, whom they have chased all summer.

It seems the pursuit of the Englishman will end in failure given the transfer window closes on Tuesday, yet that shouldn't be Mourinho's concern. The manager has bigger problems than a failed signing and must find a solution to end his team's woes.

If not, when Maccabi Tel-Aviv visit London for Matchday 1 of the Champions League on Sept. 16, we could be facing the real possibility of history repeating.

And that would be a great tragedy.

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes