Southampton 1-3

Telegraph:

Chelsea 1 Southampton 3
Home fans round on Jose Mourinho as champions lose again
What started as a blip has now become a crisis for Chelsea manager as Saints come from goal down to win

 By  Matt Law

Never mind retaining the Premier League title, Chelsea have got a fight on their hands to finish in the top four and manager Jose Mourinho is clearly worried about his job after owner Roman Abramovich watched the season go from bad to worse.
Abramovich, who was in the Stamford Bridge stands, will have heard the Chelsea fans around him boo Mourinho’s decisions to take off goalscorer Willian and substitute Nemanja Matic. What started as a blip has now become a full-blown crisis.
Mourinho has tried everything in recent weeks, frequently switching his players in a desperate attempt to find a solution to Chelsea’s mounting problems.
Whereas everything Mourinho touched turned to gold last season, everything he currently attempts is going wrong. John Terry and Eden Hazard returned to the team and were to blame for goals, while Branislav Ivanovic kept his place and was giving a chasing by Dusan Tadic.

The Chelsea fans who chanted ‘We want our captain back’ in Portugal cheered loudly when Terry’s name was read out among the starters ahead of kick-off, but by the end they sang ‘We’re ****ing shit’ and they were not wrong.
Mourinho spoke of wanting to build a Chelsea dynasty, but an all-too-familiar soap opera is once again developing at Stamford Bridge.
He left Oscar, Radamel Falcao and Lois Remy in England when the rest of his squad travelled to Porto in the Champions League. Oscar and Falcao returned to the side against Southampton, but if they were placated then Nemanja Matic will have gone home on Saturday night with his pride severely dented.
Matic once again started on the bench, but only lasted 28 minutes as a second-half substitute before being dragged off. Unsurprisingly, the midfielder did not shake the hand of Mourinho when he was replaced by Loic Remy.
Chelsea had got off to the perfect start, when Hazard won the free-kick from which Chelsea took a ninth-minute lead. The Belgian was fouled by former Chelsea midfielder Oriol Romeu left of centre and Willian scored for the fourth successive game from a set piece.

That should have provided Mourinho’s men with the perfect confidence boost, but Chelsea retreated further back into their shells the longer the first half went on.
Southampton saw their first penalty appeal ignored in the 14th minute when Ivanovic appeared to hold down Virgil van Dijk in the penalty area and there were louder shouts in the 33rd minute, when Ramires trod on the foot of Sadio Mane in his own area, but referee Robert Madley allowed play to continue.
Barely 60 seconds later, Mane went down again outside the area and Madley booked the Southampton forward for diving – even though replays showed he had been taken out by Ivanovic.
Goalkeeper Asmir Begovic saved from Victor Wanyama and Steven Davis, but Chelsea could not hold on to their lead until half-time.
Following a cynical trip from Ramires, Cedric Soares hit a long ball that was chested down by Graziano Pelle and Davis crashed a first-time shot past Begovic and into the net.
Both teams made changes at half-time, with Matic taking over from Ramires and James Ward-Prowse replacing Romeu, before Chelsea completely collapsed.

The home side were lucky to see Begovic save from Mane after Tadic had completely outpaced Ivanovic. Mane then had another shot blocked before Ward-Prowse fired wide after the Blues had failed to properly clear the ball.
Falcao was largely a passenger until Cesc Fabregas played the Colombian through into the penalty area and he went down as Maarten Stekelenburg went for the ball. Chelsea expected referee Madely to point to the penalty spot, but he instead showed Falcao a yellow card for diving. Mourinho responded with ironic laughter.
Disaster struck for the home side on the hour mark, following two horrendous defensive errors. Gary Cahill gave the ball away to Pelle and the striker passed to Mane, who turned Terry far too easily and beat Begovic to put Southampton ahead.

Mourinho responded by sending on Pedro, but the first signs of discontent among the Chelsea fans was evident as they booed his decision to take off Willian. Afterwards he revealed the Brazilian had been vomiting at half-time.
The mood really turned sour with 18 minutes remaining, as Southampton sealed all three points with a goal that again exposed all of Chelsea’s problems. Hazard needlessly lost the ball to Pelle, who passed to Mane and received the ball back to score.

Mourinho threw on Remy in place of the substitute Matic, who had only lasted 28 minutes on the pitch. The Chelsea fans jeered and then booed loudly at the final whistle. Abramovich will understand why.

=================

Observer:
Chelsea and José Mourinho endure more misery as Southampton hit three
Chelsea 1 - 3 Southampton

Dominic Fifield

There were times here when José Mourinho, alone in his technical area as his ailing champions slumped yet again, wore the haunted look of the condemned. The kind of haggard demeanour that, dare it be said, marked out André Villa-Boas and Roberto Di Matteo before him, and the Portuguese is not used to being in such company. He was the one, unsolicited, who brought up the prospect of suffering the sack in the aftermath and, if that was him challenging his employers, a parting of the ways no longer feels an outlandish suggestion.
This was a humiliation, a fourth defeat of their Premier League defence inflicted by a rampant Southampton side whose effervescence simply blinded Chelsea. Sadio Mané ran amok, Steven Davis hassled and harried the hosts to distraction, and Graziano Pellè bullied his markers who merely wilted, cramped by anxiety. There was no saviour to celebrate in John Terry, the restored captain exposed and exploited when the visitors first forced themselves ahead. Mourinho’s complaints over the non-award of a penalty to Radamel Falcao ignored the reality Virgil van Dijk and Mané had legitimate complaints of their own at seeing appeals for spot-kicks dismissed.
More troubling was the lack of any coherent strategy imposed from the bench. Chaos reigned. Theirs had always felt a fragile midfield given the pace and movement Southampton boast in the centre. The half-time introduction of Nemanja Matic acknowledged as much, but he was hauled off 28 minutes later, the boos which erupted at that change echoing those at the withdrawal of Willian, who had been unwell at the break. They betrayed an audience mystified by the decisions of a manager in whom, only recently, they had placed every ounce of their trust. Now there was doubt, scepticism, even murmurings of revolt, with the chorusing of the team’s name bellowed out only in defiance.
The champions languish fifth bottom, 10 points from the summit, having lost half their Premier League games this season going into another international break when the manager will have only a handful of players to work with. He has offered no answers out on the pitch as yet, with no formula struck to rekindle last season’s swagger. This team feel broken, none of which will have escaped Roman Abramovich, peering down from his box up in the Gods in the west stand.
His manager’s post-match challenge will not have gone unnoticed, either.
“This is a crucial moment in the history of this club because, if they sack me, they sack the best manager this club has had,” he offered. “And the message again is that if there are bad results, the manager is guilty.” Yet Mourinho suddenly feels vulnerable, the memory of last season’s triumph fading fast.
That much is evident when two of last year’s stalwarts, Terry and Branislav Ivanovic, did not win a single tackle between them here. Self-doubt has infected even the most seasoned winners this club has ever had.
They were embarrassed here by a wonderful Southampton performance, the early lead enjoyed when Willian’s free-kick flew in off the woodwork nothing but a mirage. It took the visitors some time to find proper rhythm, but Ivanovic’s pull on Van Dijk could have earned them an immediate penalty, Ramires might have conceded another when he stepped on Mané’s foot, and Asmir Begovic did well to deny Ryan Bertrand. The hosts were eventually prised apart: José Fonte’s lofted pass was chested down by Pellè, free of Gary Cahill, and Davis tore on to the loose ball to crunch home a volley from distance. The Northern Ireland international had been ignored by Chelsea’s midfield shield, with Willian and Cesc Fàbregas dawdling. The error felt familiar.
Matic’s introduction did little to stem the flow, with Mané such a menace and the home side constantly on edge. They cracked again on the hour mark while Mourinho was still chuckling in livid disbelief that Falcao had been booked for a dive as Maarten Stekelenburg slid in and made contact. When Cahill surrendered possession at the other end, Pellè eventually slipped a pass into space which Terry, stretching out his left leg awkwardly, failed to intercept. Mané rolled away from the centre-half and on to the ball, his finish flicking from Begovic’s glove to dribble into the net. Terry, crestfallen, buried his head in his shirt, a saviour no more.
Mourinho’s disgust at the non-award of the penalty was an acknowledgement of his own team’s vulnerability. “They are in such a low moment that they collapse,” he explained, with Hazard’s poor touch duly allowing Pellè to seal possession and liberate Mané. The Senegalese galloped upfield and had options both ways, but his clipped return pass to the Italian was ideal, Pellè thumping home his finish across Begovic to shatter what hopes remained.
“We were the better team, had the better chances, and totally deserved the win,” added Ronald Koeman. That was an understatement even if the majesty of this win was rather buried beneath Chelsea’s utter mediocrity. Their title defence has endured a new nadir. The ramifications for the management could yet be grim.

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Independent:

Crisis at Stamford Bridge as Jose Mourinho's Blues are well beaten by Saints
Chelsea 1 Southampton 3

Glenn MOORE

The season is not yet a quarter old, summer is still hanging on, but already Chelsea look set for the worst title defence since Leeds United in the Premier League’s debut season 23 years ago. Chelsea look struck in a crisis of confidence compounded by key players ageing and exacerbated by Jose Mourinho’s capricious management.
John Terry came in for his 677th appearance for the club, but only his second since August.
Terry’s name was lustily cheered when announced.
In attack Radamel Falcao replaced the suspended Diego Costa while Oscar and Eden Hazard returned in place of Pedro and John Obi Mikel. Nemanja Matic was again on the bench. For all their early-season stuttering, Chelsea are still the champions and Ronald Koeman recalled one of their old boys to stiffen his midfield. In the only change from the Southampton team that beat Swansea 3-1 a week ago Oriel Romeu, whose career at Stamford Bridge fell away sharply, replaced James Ward-Prowse.
Romeu was booked just nine minutes later for tripping Hazard, his fourth caution in six Premier League games.
It proved an expensive foul. Willian, who has become a dead-ball dead-eye this season, did it again, deceiving Maarten Stekelenburg with a curler that went in off the post.
At the other end, Branislav Ivanovic was fortunate not to concede a penalty for virtually tugging Virgil Van Dijk’s shirt off at a corner. Few referees are brave enough to give spot-kicks in such circumstances; Robert Madley is evidently not one of them. That suspicion deepened when he failed to give a penalty when Saido Mané was tripped by Ramires, then booked Mané for simulation after Ivanovic upended him outside the box.
Those incidents highlighted Saints’ growing pressure and, after Asmir Begovic denied Ryan Bertrand, he was beaten by Davis’ 43rd-minute volley, Graziano Pelle having held off Gary Cahill to feed the scorer.
Whatever Mourinho said to his players at half-time went unheeded as Southampton created a series of chances immediately after the break, with Mané the most wasteful and Ivanovic again Chelsea’s weak link as he was bamboozled by Dusan Tadic.
Chelsea briefly responded and a sharp move ended with Falcao booked for throwing himself down after touching the ball around Stekelenburg.
It was a brief flash of the old Chelsea and on the hour Saints made their dominance pay. Cahill lost possession, Pelle fed Mané, who turned Terry inside out and squeezed his shot past Begovic.
Mourinho called up his cavalry in the shape of multiple medal-winner Pedro. Loïc Rémy followed, but he was waiting on the touchline when Saints capitalised on a slack Hazard pass to launch a counter-attack that concluded with Pelle scoring from Mané’s pass. Matic, on for only 28 minutes, was withdrawn. He is the new scapegoat.
Tadic wasted a chance to make it four after Mané embarrassed Cahill before boos rang out at the final whistle.

Chelsea: (4-2-3-1) Begovic; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Fabregas, Ramires (Matic, h-t; Rémy, 73); Willian (Pedro, 64), Oscar, Hazard; Falcao.

Southampton: (4-4-1-1) Stekelenburg; Soares, Fonte, Van Dijk, Bertrand; Davis, Romeu (Ward-Prowse, h-t), Wanyama, Tadic (Rodriguez, 78); Mané (Yoshida, 90); Pelle.

Referee: Robert Madley
Man of the match: Mané (Southampton)
Match rating: 8/10

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Mail:

Chelsea 1-3 Southampton: Blues' nightmare start continues as Steven Davis, Saido Mane and Graziano Pelle score to stun Premier League champions at Stamford Bridge  
 
Rob Draper

Jose Mourinho has tried it all. He has criticised his players and questioned their attitude. He has then back pedalled and killed them with kindness, defending them after defeats. He has dropped some players and left others back in London when the team was in Portugal.
On Saturday, he went for restoring club captain John Terry to the line-up, to no avail; he was hopelessly exposed again. Then he brought on Nemanjic Matic at half time and took him off again after 28 minutes. Humiliated, Matic wasn’t even offered a handshake from his manager.
But it doesn’t really what he tries, what trick he tries to pull. None of them are working at present. Chelsea are abysmal. They have lost four times in the Premier League this season, won just twice and conceded 17 goals. Last season they lost three, and conceded 32 all season. This is not so much a title defence as a humiliating abdication before the autumn leaves have stated to fall.
Yesterday the crowd even booed his substitutions at Stamford Bridge, especially that of Matic. It seems they weren’t buying the gesture politics. Defensive solutions would be more appropriate but one of the great coaches of his generation can find none at present.
At which point you begin to question whether these players want to dig their manager out of this hole. It seems extraordinary to suggest as much when but five months ago they were parading down the Fulham Road with the Premier League title. Yet they play as if they are unconcerned at the growing crisis enveloping Stamford Bridge.
What made it all the more bizarre was that the evening had started well for Chelsea. The lethargy of the Porto performance was initially replaced by an energetic intensity. Notably Oscar, left at home in midweek, and Hazard, dropped in Oporto, were insatiable in their appetite to close down Southampton players and get on the ball themselves. It was much more like the Chelsea of last season; even more so when Willian opened the scoring on ten minutes.
In fact, it was rather like the Chelsea of last week, the Brazilian repeating his trick of curling in the ball from a lengthy free kick thirty yards out. What looked like a magnificent cross had sufficient spin on it to curl and curl on t the post and in the net past the despairing out-stretched arm of Stekelenburg. It was rather magnificent; being Brazilian, the odds were he meant it.
Chelsea seemed much more at ease with the world. When Fabregas and Oscar exchanged crisp passes inside the box and the Brazilian struck a shot goal-wards which Maarten Stekelenburg grasped out of the air, it seemed as though some of the joie de vivre of the title-winning might be returning.
It didn’t last. Chelsea can’t deliver over 45 minutes at present, let alone 90. Slowly Southampton eased themselves back into the game and Sadio Mane began to torment in the manner in which Porto’s players had in midweek.
It was to referee’s Robert Madley’s discredit that he didn’t award the excellent Senegalese a penalty on 30 minutes when clumsy Ramires felled him. It was to his shame that he booked him a minute later, when Ivanovic felled him and he was deemed to have dived.
Like most of Ivanovic’s opponents this season he was simply much too quick for the Serbian. The diving directive is all well and good in theory; in practice it is almost impossible to police with the naked eye.
Victor Wanyama then tested Begovic with a swirling cross which threatened to drop in under the cross bar. By now Chelsea had conceded the initiative and would never recover it.
They dropped deep and failed to compete as they had in the opening quarter of the game. So little surprise when Jose Fonte lofted a long ball which Graziano Pelle chested down quite superbly into the path of Steven Davis. The quality of his half volley matched the assist; Begovic barely saw it.
Having conceded, Chelsea could not re-adjust to their previous superiority. Mane by now was thoroughly enjoying himself, his pace and movement pulling Chelsea one way and another. Begovic denied him sliding in on 48 minutes and Ivanovic blocked him as the ball rebounded. Ward-Prowse then struck wide from the corner.
Chelsea felt aggrieved when Fabregas’ lovely through ball saw Falcao felled by Stekelenburg – the Colombian stated his fall a fraction top early and received a yellow card instead of the penalty he might have won had he not been so eager to fall into the challenge.
Yet, the pattern of the game was emerging. Chelsea were struggling, Mane was in the ascendancy. So when on the hour, when Pelle was allowed by Gary Cahill to play in a dangerous looking ball, which Terry completely misjudged with his sliding interception and Mane found himself clear on goal, the result was inevitable,. The Senegalese cooly dispatched the finish and then proceeded to celebrate in ecstatic fashion in front of the Southampton fans.
Mane then was fouled by Falcao, the Colombian fortunate not to attract a second yellow. And on 70 minutes, came the denouement. Hazard gave the ball away in midfield and Mane sprinted away, through the Chelsea defence and released Pelle wide on his right.
The Italian looked up, shot and finished superbly from just inside the box. Chelsea had been well beaten again. More worrying, they look wholly incapable of halting their decline.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Begovic 7, Ivanovic 4, Cahill 3, Terry 5, Azpilicueta 6.5, Ramires 5 (Matic 45 (Remy73 )), Fabregas 4, Willian 6.5 (Pedro 65), Oscar 6, Hazard 5, Falcao 3
Subs not used: Zouma, Baba, Blackman, Loftus-Cheek
Booked: Ramires, Falcao
Scorers: Willian 10

Southampton (4-2-3-1): Stekelenburg 5, Soares 6, Fonte 7, Van Dijk 7.5, Bertrand 6, Romeu 5 (Ward-Prowse 45), Wanyama 7.5, Mane 9 (Yoshida 92), Davis 7.5, Tadic 7 (Rodriguez 78), Pelle 8.5
Subs not used: Davis, Long, Martina, Juanmi
Booked: Bertrand, Romeu, Mane, Pelle
Scorers: Davis 43, Mane 60, Pelle 72

Referee: Robert Madley
Attendance: 41,642

John Terry return as captain failed to help Chelsea as nothing changed for Jose Mourinho's side at Stamford Bridge

John Terry was at fault for one of Southampton's goals in the loss
The captain returned to Jose Mourinho's starting line-up

By Matt Barlow for The Mail on Sunday

The sight of John Terry leading out the Chelsea team was supposed to soothe the anxieties of those inside Stamford Bridge.
They have missed their captain (leader, legend) and rather hoped his return would end a difficult spell and represent a return to last season's dominance.
It did not quite work out that way. Chelsea slumped to a sixth defeat of the season. Worse still, his misjudgment allowed Sadio Mane the chance to fire Southampton into a 2-1 lead, soon after half-time.
It was not the only reason Chelsea lost to Saints, but it was a pivotal moment.
Terry read the pass from Graziano Pelle. That, in a way, was his problem. He tried to step across the front of Mane but could not quite reach the ball.
Quick and smart, Mane rolled past him and was through on goal. Though not the most clinical of finishers, this time he forced a shot through Asmir Begovic.
Terry looked up to the heavens. Was it lack of match-sharpness; a rustiness from not playing regularly? Or was he feeling his almost 35 years?
It is impossible to know. What was Mourinho thinking? Would Kurt Zouma have dealt with it better?
The Chelsea boss has often preferred Zouma for his extra pace but, in Porto, on Tuesday, the 20-year-old looked like a young player ready for a break and the team lacked organisation, know-how and leadership.
Back came Terry, and nothing changed. There was no magic wand.
Mourinho's team were still flat in attack, devoid of zip or creativity, while strangely vulnerable at the back from both open play and when defending set-pieces.
Last year's title was built on a solid base around the twin towers of Terry and Gary Cahill, with two imposing full-backs and Nemanja Matic prowling deep in midfield.
Matic has not been quite the same force since the suspension and injury suffered in February and the form of Branislav Ivanovic has been so poor that it remains a mystery how bad it has to become before he is dropped.
No Chelsea player has played more minutes this season than Ivanovic, with £17million left-back Abdul Baba Rahman clearly not yet trusted by the manager.
Terry's return could not reinforce the defensive shield and when Eden Hazard surrendered the ball and Southampton broke for their third, Mourinho's team were in danger of falling apart.
Never before had they conceded three at the Bridge under his command.
Matic was hauled off having only come on at half-time. It may have been a tactical switch enforced by the third goal, but there was no explanation or word of consolation from the manager on the touchline.
Sheepishly, Matic returned to the bench where others offered him handshakes and back-pats.
Chelsea supporters, having jeered Mourinho's decision to take off Willlian, stirred to offer their team songs of defiance, but it was not supposed to be this way.
Terry's name had received a raucous cheer when the teams are announced and the Matthew Harding Stand burst into their John Terry song as soon as the match was under way.
All seemed to be going to plan when Willian curled in the opener with his fourth goal in as many games, all converted directly from free-kicks.
Southampton had started slowly, but once they found their rhythm mid-way through the first-half, Chelsea could not keep them out.
'Our league form up to now has been a long way short of what we expect,' wrote Terry in his captain's programme notes. 'It's up to us to put that right and start winning.
'With a win here before the international break, we can return for another home game in two weeks' time ready to build some momentum and get ourselves going again.'
It did not work out that way. Another defeat, and Chelsea are deep in trouble.

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Mirror:

Chelsea 1-3 Southampton: 5 things we learned as Blues' disastrous start continues at Stamford Bridge

By Darren Lewis
 
Goals from Steven Davis, Sadio Mane and Graziano Pelle sent Chelsea crashing to their fourth league defeat of the season already

Helpless Jose Mourinho was booed by his own fans as Southampton deepened the crisis at Chelsea.
The Special One is officially under pressure as Ronald Koeman’s side condemned the Champions to their fifth defeat in all competitions and their fourth in eight Premier League games.
Worse still, Mourinho humiliated midfielder Nemamja Matic after calling him from the bench to replace Ramires at half time - only to take him off after just 26 minutes.
The home fans booed the decision along with the move to replace goalscorer Willian as Falcao laboured.
Southampton may have scored three but they could have had several more as Chelsea's leaky defence failed utterly to cope with the visitors' strike force.
Willian netted in the tenth minute direct from a free-kick which flew into the top corner.
Steven Davis volleyed an equaliser from the edge of the box after the ball was chested into his path by Graziano Pelle two minutes before the break.
Man of the Match Sadio Mane took advantage of a mistake by John Terry, restored to the starting line-up by Mourinho, to put the Saints ahead on the hour. And Mane set up Pelle to rifle home a third with 18 minutes left.
Southampton were also denied two first-half penalties, first when under-fire Branislav Ivanovic pulled on the shirt of Virgil van Dijk in the box then when Ramires tripped Mane in the box.

Here are five things we learned.

1) Terry might be staring down the barrel of another spell on the bench

The Champions have now kept just two clean sheets in their last 11 games in all competitions.
Terry was making his first start in the Premier League since the 3-1 defeat at Everton yet he was at fault for Mane’s goal.
By then Steven Davis had already scored, Ramires should have given away a penalty and Branislav Ivanovic was also lucky not to do so too.

2) Ivanovic is still a liability

Mourinho continues to keep faith with the Serbian but his opponents continue to cash in.
Southampton should have conceded a penalty when Ivanovic pulled on the shirt of Virgil van Dijk in the box.
Tadic became the latest player to bamboozle him with a deft move to ghost past him shortly after half time.
It remains a mystery as to why Mourinho does not drop him, move Azpilicueta to right-back and slot £21.7m Baba Rahman in on the left.

3) Mane enhances his glowing reputation

Southampton were annoyed at the way that Manchester United leaked their supposed interest during the summer to deflect from their failed attempt to land Pedro.
That said, the 23-year-old Senegal midfielder is surely a player they could yet revisit.
He has now netted five time 12 appearances this season and is easily Southampton’s key man.

4) Chelsea crowd beginning to turn

They booed the decision to take off goalscorer Willian for substitute Pedro. Some fans made it cleared that they’d have preferred Cesc Fabregas to come off instead.
Then widespread boos and incredulity swept around Stamford Bridge as Nemanja Matic, thrown on at half time, was replaced by Loic Remy after 28 minutes.
Late on a section of the fans in the Matthew Harding Stand chanted: ‘We’re f*****g s***’.
The team as a whole do not look to be improving one iota and Southampton bossed them for long periods of this game.

5) Falcao really has lost it

It is sad to see. A player that was once the most feared frontman in Europe did not even belong in this company.
Mourinho talked in pre-season about the Colombian proving a few people wrong this season after Manchester United decided against making his disastrous loan permanent.
Falcao, however, has become even worse. How he lasted 90 minutes is a mystery.
Diego Costa can’t come back soon enough.

Chelsea: Begovic 4, Azpilicueta 4, Terry 3, Cahill 3, Ivanovic 2, Ramires 4 (Matic 3 [Remy 73, 3), Fabregas 3, Hazard 5, Oscar 4, Willian 6 (Remy 64, 4), Falcao 3.

Southampton: Stekelenburg 7, Soares 7, Fonte 7, Van Dijk 7, Bertrand 7, Wanyama 8, Romeu 7 (Ward-Prowse 45, 6), Tadic 8 (Rodriguez 78), Davis 8, Mane 9 MOTM (Yoshida 92), Pelle 8.


Mourinho's seven-minute rant

"I think you know me, and I think I don't run away from responsibilities.
"I think, first of all, I want to say that because we are in such a bad moment, I think you shouldn't be afraid to be also honest.
"Because when we were at the top, I understand that it is quite a big pleasure, and it is gone.
"But when you are so down, I think it's time to be a little bit honest and to say clearly the referees are afraid to give decisions for Chelsea.
"The result was 1-1 when it was a huge penalty, and, once more, we didn't get one.
"And the penalty was a crucial moment in the game with the result 1-1.
"And, I repeat, if the FA wants to punish me, they can punish me. They don't punish other managers, they punish me, but it's not a problem for me.
"I want to repeat because I think my players deserve it, Chelsea fans deserve it, I am a Chelsea fan too, and I want to say it again: referees are afraid to giving decisions to Chelsea.
"Why? Because when they give, there is always a question mark from you [the media].
"There is always a question, there is always a critic, so we are always punished.
"We are punished because Diego Costa is suspended with images. In other matches we see the same thing and that doesn't happen.
"Clear penalties are not given and with us it's one and one and one and one, and even in the Champions League, in a match we lost 2-1 [to Porto], which is a game with not three officials, but five, we are not given a penalty in the last minute.
"And this penalty in this game today is more than crucial, and do you know why? Because my team, in this moment, the first negative thing that happens, the team collapses.
"The team, mentally, psychologically, is unbelievably down. It looks like good players are bad players.
"In the first-half, we didn't show our quality, but we were in control, we were more than in control, and one mistake, a lack of concentration, one goal and you have a tough time.
"In normal circumstances, you come to the second-half and you do your game. I told the players 'no panic, we are not losing 4-0, it's 1-1, no panic'.
"The team comes out with a good spirit, we have a penalty and the penalty is a giant penalty, and he [the referee] was afraid to give, like everybody else is afraid to give, so no penalty.
"And, after that, the team lost even more confidence and you know that their second goal is an individual mistake and their third goal was another individual mistake.
"And the team, mentally, they tried but they collapsed.
"I can also know, what you are thinking and what you are saying in the studio about what is going to happen and what is not going to happen.
"I want to make it clear. One , I don't run away.
" Two , if the club wants to sack me, they have to sack me because I'm not running away from my responsibility and my team. To be champions will obviously be very, very difficult because the distance is considerable, but I am more than convinced that we will finish in the top four. And, when the season is so bad, if you finish top four, it is ok.
" Three , even more important than the first and the second, I think this is a crucial moment in the history of this club. Do you know why? Because if the club sacks me, they sack the best manager that this club has, and secondly, the message is again: bad results and the manager is guilty.
"And this is the message that not just these players but the other ones before [sic] they got during a decade.
"I think this is a moment for everybody to assume responsibilities. I assume my responsibilities, I think the players should assume their responsibilities, there are other people in the club who should also assume their responsibilities, and to stick together. This is what I want.
"The players still have to play until the end of the season with the gold champion thing in their shirt, and I want to work, as always.
"I consider myself, you know, that I have a big self esteem and a big ego, I consider myself the best.

"Leaving the worst period of my career, the worst results of my career, doing that as a professional hurts me a lot.
"Doing that at Chelsea hurts me twice, because it hurts me as a professional and it hurts me because I like this club very, very much and that's why I came back.
"So I want to carry on, no doubt, no doubt.
"And I assume my responsibilities, but I think it's time for everybody to assume their responsibilities, because when you go down to so many individual mistakes and fear to play, they have their responsibilities.
"They are players who are performing really, really bad, individually.
"I cannot come here and say, you and you and you and you - it's not my job - but I think it's clear that we are being punished by too many individual mistakes.
"And, as I was saying, sadness brings sadness, bad results attract bad results. The first mistake is just the first because after comes another one.
"This team needs to finish the first-half winning two or three nil, with the fears disappearing, coming into the second-half with a free brain, with a free spirit.

"This is what this team needs and unfortunately for them, this is not happening.
"And again, I repeat, so I want to make it clear again, because I don't want to be offensive, the referees are afraid to give us decisions.
"When you are top, you want to see people come down. When people are down, give us a break, and be honest and be loyal with us because the team deserves that and the penalty is clear, and 2-1 is a completely different story."

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Express:

Chelsea 1 - Southampton 3: Davis, Mane and Pelle ruin Willian's early opener
JOSE MOURINHO really does need to see the doctor now.
By Colin Mafham

His ailing Chelsea stars went down yesterday with the sort of collective ills for which he needs to find a cure - and quick.
Southampton clinically heaped salt into their wounds to maintain an  unbeaten away record that rarely looked in danger yesterday.
Their three goals - all crackers - exposed everything that's wrong with Chelsea at the moment  to bring boos at the end from a disgruntled crowd that were cheering them not so long ago.

Hardly any wonder that the Special One looked the Sick One as he trudged off at the end of what turned out to be a drubbing.
He, too, is in need of a tonic right now. Times really are a changing at Stamford Bridge these days, though.
No one seems to worry about playing there anymore - least of all Southampton.

Apart from the fact that Chelsea didn't manage to beat them at all last season Saints turned up yesterday unbeaten on their travels and not phased one bit by the faltering champions.
Mourinho, without the suspended Diego Costa and wrestling with more problems these days than he's had for years, preferred Radamel Falcao up front to Loic Remy and Oscar for his big money buy, Pedro.
It's an understatement to say he was in need of something extra special yesterday. He got it with less than 10 minutes on the clock.
A free kick given after Romeu tripped Eden Hazard in full flow looked in a harmless enough position. But Willian was having none of that.
The Brazilian's exquisite cross floated over everyone - including keeper Maarten Stekelenburg - and into the net off the post.
You could have almost touched the relief that went round the Bridge.
But to be honest, that would have changed in a flash if Steven Davis hadn't blasted a great chance wide five minutes later with only Asmir Begovic to beat.
His manager, Ronald Koeman, was not a happy bunny. The Dutchman's mood was hardly lifted as Chelsea temporarily started to play with some of the swagger that served them so well last season.
And if one silky move involving Cesc Fabregas, Hazard and Oscar had got the reward it deserved he would have been contemplating a two goal deficit within half an hour.
Credit where credit's due, though, Saints are a good side. They ruffled Chelsea's feathers with set pieces and but for Begovic's bravery former Chelsea man, Ryan Bertrand, would surely have equalised before they eventually did.
And, boy, was it worth waiting for. A cracking volley from Davis two minutes before the interval that was his first goal in 63 games and 19 long months for a Southampton side that were growing in confidence by the minute.
It was no more than Saints deserved either. They were stunned by that Willian opener, but they worked their way back so very well.
Chances of Mourinho getting one over Koeman for the first time in four meetings were beginning to look less likely - especially as Chelsea persisted in playing long balls up to lone striker Falcao when the Colombian is clearly considerably shorter than the men marking him.
Even more significant was the uncharacteristic low profile role the Chelsea chief seemed to have settled for. Not once did he get to his feet in those first 45 minutes.
That changed - and it had to - when the increasingly confident Saints put John Terry and Co under the cosh after the restart, literally queuing up to take pot shots at the besieged Begovic. This was not the way it used to be.
And when Sadio Mane gave Southampton the lead they richly deserved on 59 minutes you got the feeling that things might be going to get a lot worse for Mourinho before they get better.

The tricky Senegalese winger had been threatening that all afternoon before wriggling his way through a floundering Chelsea rearguard to cooly stroke home Saints second.
No wonder Mourinho found his voice again. This time, though, Branislav Ivanovic and skipper Terry were the targets for his vitriol in the absence of anyone with medical qualifications.
Not that it made any difference as rampant Southampton got a superb third on 72 minutes.
Cesar Azpilicueta recklessly gifted possession, the ball went through to Pelle and the Saints striker lived up to his famous surname (with an extra l that is) with a rasping low shot.
Game over. And the banished Dr Carneiro was sadly missed to ease the pain in Chelsea minds and bodies.

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Star:

Chelsea 1 Southampton 3: Saints pile more pressure on Jose Mourinho
JOSE MOURINHO really does need to see the doctor now.

By Colin Mafham

His ailing Chelsea stars went down yesterday with the sort of collective ills for which he needs to find a cure – and quick.
And after the Portuguese blamed the result on referee Bobby Madley for being “scared” to give decisions to his team, maybe he needs his head testing too.
Mourinho railed at the referee for failing to give a penalty when Falcao tumbled under Maarten Stekelenburg’s challenge.
In truth, the Colombian hammered the ball out of play and cynically made sure he fell into the prone keeper.
But Jose said the referee was “afraid to give decisions for Chelsea” and ranted for a full seven minutes about his side’s woes.
He knows he’s under pressure like never before, but said: “One. I don’t run away.
“Two. We will finish top four.
“Three. This is a crucial moment in the history of this club because if they sack me they sack the best manager this club has ever had.
“This is a moment for everybody to assume their responsibilities and to stick together.
“I have a big ego, I consider myself the best. I will not walk away.”
Southampton’s three goals – all crackers – exposed everything that is wrong with Chelsea at the moment to bring boos at the end.
Mourinho, without the suspended Diego Costa and wrestling with more problems these days than he’s had for years, preferred Radamel Falcao up front to Loic Remy and Oscar for his big money buy, Pedro.
And with less than ten minutes on the clock Willian conjured up something special that he desperately needed.
His free-kick, given after Oriol Romeu tripped Eden Hazard in full flow, floated over everyone – including keeper Stekelenburg – and into the net off the post.
You could have almost touched the relief that went round the Bridge.
Credit where credit’s due, though, Saints are a good side. They ruffled Chelsea’s feathers with set-pieces and but for Asmir Begovic’s bravery former Bridge man, Ryan Bertrand, would surely have equalised before they eventually did.
And it was worth waiting for.
A cracking volley from Steven Davis two minutes before the interval that was his first goal in 63 games and 19 months.
And when Sadio Mane gave Southampton the lead they richly deserved in the 59th minute you got the feeling that things might be going to get a lot worse for Mourinho before they get better.
The tricky Senegal winger had been threatening that all afternoon before wriggling his way through a floundering Chelsea rearguard to coolly stroke home Saints’ second.
Mourinho raged on the touchline.
Branislav Ivanovic and skipper John Terry were the targets for his anger.
Not that it made any difference as rampant Southampton got a superb third after 72 minutes.
Cesar Azpilicueta recklessly gifted them possession, the ball went through to Graziano Pelle and the Saints striker made no mistake with a rasping low shot.
Game over.
Koeman said: “We had a difficult start, made it 1-1 with a great goal.
“The difference was how we came out of the dressing room in the second half.
“We were much more aggressive and totally deserved the three points. “If they should have had one penalty, we should have had two penalties.”