The Blues looked fragile as tempers flared when things went against them at Upton Park and, another step back from a top-four finish, the Portuguese may be out of time.
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A 2-1 defeat by West Ham is painful enough for Chelsea, leaving the reigning Premier League champions nine points behind the Hammers and rapidly running out of a time to make a charge towards the top four, but more worrying was the air of capitulation in a period of absolute disarray in the 10 minutes leading up to half-time.
That spell, from the 35th minute until the end of the period, presented Chelsea as a club at breaking point, with all the frustrations and annoyances of their poor start to the season bursting out into the open. By the time that they came out for the resumption, Jose Mourinho had been banished to the directors' box.
The Portuguese's position harked back to the end of his previous reign at Stamford Bridge and the chaos in which he left Real Madrid in 2013 before returning to the Blues. The first was a spiral of intrigue, frustration and whispers that saw Mourinho part company with Chelsea after an embarrassing Champions League match against Rosenborg.
At the Santiago Bernabeu, a succession of fallings-out with key players at the club, including a long-standing disagreement with Iker Casillas, pushed the 52-year-old towards the exit door. Recent issues with Eden Hazard and Nemanja Matic correspond to the enmity felt between Mourinho and a number of the players at Madrid, as does the fact that his whole team were so visibly wound up as soon as anything started going against them here.
The Portguese has never lasted more than three seasons at a club. His last spell at Stamford Bridge saw him flame out in late September. At this rate, with a paltry 11 points from 10 games, he looks increasingly like he will not last much longer into this season.
The catalyst for Saturday's furious mental collapse was a a Manuel Lanzini clearance off the line, with the Goal Decision System showing the ball millimetres from crossing the white chalk. Cesc Fabregas then had a goal disallowed for a tight offside, but the real moment of turmoil came with Nemanja Matic being issued with a second yellow card for hauling down Diafra Sakho.
From that moment, Chelsea lost all mental control. Fabregas and John Terry lunged towards the referee, berating the decision to send the Serbian midfielder to an early bath. Both picked up yellow cards, with Fabregas dragged off at half-time, evidently deemed in danger of losing his control once more.
But the lack of control also engulfed Mourinho and his coaching staff, illustrating the desperation in seeing yet another poor result for what is now a consistently below-par side. Assistant Silvino Loura was the first to lose his cool, with referee Moss sending him to the stands shortly after the Matic incident. Mourinho’s dismissal took a little longer, with the Portuguese failing to appear on the manager’s bench for the second half, instead taking a position in the director’s box.
Gary Cahill managed an equaliser shortly after half-time, but the goal brought no smile to Mourinho’s mouth, marooned in his position to the right of the press box, before an Andy Caroll header ended the contest.
Carroll’s goal, emphatics as it was, followed an air of inevitability, with Chelsea yet to regain control following their irate end to the first-half. Mourinho’s first spell at the club ended after a similarly hopeless game against Rosenborg. Whether or not the manager, who has cut an increasingly frustrated figure, is close to the Stamford Bridge exit door this defeat, and the corresponding capitulation, felt like a moment of importance in his reign.
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