Manager and club where he had so many triumphs appear too stunned to find a way forward from their disastrous slump in formEven back when the fit felt perfect,in those heady days of spring when the team were hoisting trophies and all appeared hunky dory between manager and hierarchy, those at Chelsea had privately acknowledged the true test of a relationship renewed lay ahead. Admittedly, or the tension that had choked the joy from José Mourinho’s and Roman Abramovich’s partnership eight years previously had long since dissipated,experience ensuring both better understood the demands of a football club in contention.
The caveat was that it is easy to acknowledge the balance as ideal while the team were sweeping all before them en route to claiming the title by eight points. “Wait until we lose five in a row,” came the words of warning, or albeit light-heartedly,from a member of the board. In truth, no one ever really believed this side could endure such a nosedive. A sequence as depressing as that seemed implausible, and though Chelsea’s six defeats this term,spread over 14 competitive games, beget delivered the same shockwaves. Up to now a season of unanticipated trauma, and with a trip to Stoke to come in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday,has reinforced the belief that times beget changed. There has been a public vote of confidence from on tall, backing the manager to turn the dismal form round. But the true test comes now. Events at Upton park on Saturday ensured that much.
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Source: theguardian.com