After seeing his side slump to a ninth defeat of the season, Jose Mourinho admits he is ashamed at Chelsea’s current league position.
The Blues won the Premier League title with relative ease last term, and were expected to be right up there challenging again this time round. However, they have started the campaign in remarkably poor fashion, and a 2-1 defeat against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Monday evening was their ninth reverse from just 16 rounds of fixtures so far.
This latest setback leaves the champions in 16th position, already 20 points behind the Foxes and 14 behind Manchester United who currently occupy the final UEFA Champions League qualifying place. Equally as worry is the fact they are only a single point above the relegation zone, something which is not lost on an admittedly ashamed Mourinho.
“At the moment, we are in a zone where I feel ashamed,” the Portuguese coach said on Sky Sports following the defeat to Claudio Ranieri’s high-fliers. I don’t believe [we are in a relegation battle]. We are in the relegation zone – an area in the table. But to be in a battle is to be there for three or four months and I don’t think this will be so.”
With each passing defeat the speculation grows that Mourinho will either be sacked or he will quit his post, with some reports in Spain suggesting he could even have a job waiting for him at one of his former clubs, Real Madrid, where Rafael Benitez is under pressure. However, he insists: “I want to stay. I hope the board and Mr Abramovich want me to stay.”
Next up for Chelsea is the visit of Sunderland, a match which the hosts would be expected to win; however, that is not the first time such an assumption has been made in recent weeks. One thing for sure is that another defeat would certainly leave them in the relegation zone as the Black Cats would leapfrog them, leaving Mourinho in ever more danger.
