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| Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho invited media into their training camp in a bid to reassure fans |
Mourinho received both backing and a warning from the club on Monday that results must improve after starting their title defence with two wins in eight games.
And after the manager maintained he would not resign as long as the players supported him, Chelsea wheeled out two of them yesterday to confirm their belief he is the man to turn their season around.
"The players are to blame," said striker Diego Costa, who happens to share the same agent as his manager in Jorge Mendes.
"Mourinho is giving us all the support we need. The players say he is the best manager we can have. Maybe he gets criticised because he is very good. Maybe he gets criticised because he is Mourinho."
No players had spoken to media after their previous two games, the 2-1 Champions League defeat at Porto and last Saturday's 3-1 loss at home to Southampton - although captain John Terry was interviewed by the in-house TV channel - after which Mourinho said only they would be able to shed light on his work.
So the club arranged yesterday's media visit and Costa, who was dropped from the Spain games for this week's games for his early-season indiscipline, went on to admit he came back from his summer break overweight, and confessed the players had been complacent.
"We came back from holiday very confident," he said. "We thought we could go back to how it was last season, and before we realised it the team was in a bad situation.
"I'm going to be honest. I got injured at the end of last season and went on holiday. Maybe I got out of my diet and when I came back I was a bit overweight. I was not on top of my game.
"Yes, Mourinho has supported me, but he has supported all the players. It's not that. I'm happy with the manager. We all feel the same way about Jose.
"He gets criticism because of the way he is. He's direct, straightforward, he says what he thinks and what he believes to be the truth.
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| Diego Costa - The players are to blame |
"Sometimes it's not what people want to hear. But it's the way he is. There are managers who say what people want to hear. I'd rather have someone who tells me straight up what happens, rather than sweet things.
"You can be selfish and blame it on the manager but I'm not going to do that. I'm responsible 100 per cent and so are the other guys.
"If you ask a million players who they would want as manager, they will come back with a top three list of Mourinho, Pep Guardiola or Diego Simeone. He was one of the reasons I joined Chelsea."
Despite such staunch support, Mourinho knows that owner Roman Abramovich's patience will swiftly run out if this dreadful run continues. Chelsea face struggling Aston Villa on Saturday week and anything but a win is unthinkable.
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| Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has warned Mourinho that results must improve |
Brazil midfielder Ramires, who also missed out on national selection but is set to sign a new four-year contract this week, said: "We need to react quickly because we don't want to lose Jose.
"We've not lost a bit of trust in him. He is the best manager for us. I understand where he is coming from when he said if he didn't have the confidence of the players he would step aside. But that's not the case."
Chelsea have signed goalkeeper Marco Amelia as cover for Asmir Begovic, with first-choice Thibaut Courtois out injured.
They and Arsenal have been fined £40,000 and £30,000 respectively and warned as to their future conduct for the behaviour of their players in last month's London derby.
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