How Jose Mourinho went from Premier League champion to sacked in seven months

Mourinho won his third title at Chelsea in May, but is now out of work

 

JOSE MOURINHO’S second spell at Chelsea has come to an end after a disastrous start to the champions’ title defence.

 

But the question is, where did it all go wrong for the Portuguese manager during his second spell at Chelsea?

Frank Lampard

In his first season back at Stamford Bridge, Mourinho led Chelsea to third place in the Premier League as Manchester City pipped Liverpool to the title.

However, that season was to be club legend Frank Lampard’s last at the club, as Chelsea and Mourinho failed to sign the midfielder to a new deal.

 

A key dressing room leader, the England man’s departure was widely criticised, especially when he returned to England on loan later that season, scoring a late equaliser at the Etihad for Chelsea’s title rivals.

Lack of summer reinforcements

Having spent more than £100million over the season, Chelsea took the 2014/15 Premier League title at a canter with three games to spare.

They finished eight points clear of Manchester City, but with an ageing squad, the pressure was on Mourinho to win back-to-back titles.

The boss’ main issue was finding a long-term replacement for club captain John Terry, and Chelsea made it clear that money would be no object once again.

 

Mourinho’s preferred player was Everton’s John Stones, but he was unable to tempt the youngster away from Roberto Martinez.

Now-Tottenham centre-back Toby Alderweireld was also a target, but Chelsea were beaten to the punch.

Having made only one piece of big business early in the summer - snapping up Stoke City goalkeeper Asmir Begovic - and failing to win either of their first two games of the Premier League season, pressure was mounting on Chelsea to strengthen their squad.

After picking up Barcelona’s Pedro, the failure to sign Stones left Chelsea desperate, and on transfer deadline day they announced two centre-backs: Reading’s Michael Hector and Nantes’ Papy Djilobodji.

Neither have made the required impact, and both have been linked with moves straight out of the club.

Decline of current players

While Terry is clearly coming to the end of his career, the London club have been shocked the rapid drop-off in performance of the England man after his evergreen 14/15 season.

But Terry is not the only one. Branislav Ivanovic was one of six Chelsea players in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year, alongside his captain, Gary Cahill, Nemanja Matic, Eden Hazard, and Diego Costa.

 

Ivanovic was humiliated in Chelsea’s early season games, while Matic failed to exert the control on matches he had in 14/15.

Et tu, Diego?

Mourinho has always been a big character, but he has had a number of public spats this season which have brought the club a whole world of negative publicity.

Hazard, whose lackadaisical style was hardly likely to make him popular in Mourinho’s team, has drawn repeated public criticism from his manager the season.

And the Belgian has not responded with positive performances, forcing Mourinho to drop him on several occasions.

Things came to ahead in Mourinho’s final game in charge, when Hazard appeared to refuse to play through an injury.

 

Costa too, Chelsea’s top scorer last year, has been dropped. The Spaniard has not been afraid to show his dissent, most notably throwing his bib at the manager after being told he would not be used as a substitute at White Hart Lane.

With two of Chelsea’s best players in open revolt, by the end there were near-constant rumours of a dressing room coup to overthrow the manager.

Dr Eva Carneiro

In an incident that is said to have brought Roman Abramovich closer than he ever had been to sacking Mourinho, the Chelsea manager criticised his club medical staff.

They had rushed to the aid of the stricken Hazard, whom Mourinho claimed to know was just tired, meaning that he was off the pitch when Chelsea conceding seconds later.

Dr Carneiro and physiotherapist Jon Fearn were blasted by their boss for forcing Chelsea - already without red-carded Thibaut Courtois - to continue with eight outfield players.

Dr Carneiro soon left the club, and is now bringing a case against the club for constructive dismissal.

The incident brought some of the most unsavoury publicity the club endured under Mourinho.