own players of betraying his all hard work
following their ninth league defeat of the season
against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium
on Monday.
Goals from Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez in
each half were enough to take Claudio Ranieri's
men back to the league summit and leave
Chelsea, who managed to pull one back thanks to
Remy on 77 minutes, only a single point above
the relegation zone after 16 matches this season.
After the match speaking candidly, Mourinho
blasted his players and held responsible for not
following his tactical instructions on the night.
"I think [Leicester] deserve to win because they
were better than us during a longer period of
time," the Blues manager told. "We were the best
team for 20, 25 minutes, maximum half an hour.
They were the best team for about an hour, very
consistent, very focused not making mistakes,
aggressive with everybody playing high intensity,
high tempo great mentality and difficult for us.
"Then we concede two goals that are
unacceptable for me, because I know one of my
best qualities is to read the game for my players,
to read the opponent, to identify every detail
about the opponent.
"These two goals, the movement of Vardy
between the two centre-backs, the cross with the
left foot, where we have one-against-one that I
want one-against-two, because I want a
midfielder to come and help, are two goals very
difficult to accept, a big frustration to accept
because I feel like my work was betrayed."
The shocking result last night is simply the latest
setback in what seems to be a remarkable fall for
the Blues following the club's first Premier League
trophy in five years and Mourinho, whose future at
Stamford Bridge is now more uncertain, also
questioned whether his men overachieved the last
term.
"All last season I did phenomenal work and I
brought them to a level that is not their level, is
more than they really are, or this season we are
doing so bad that the players for some reason --
I'm not saying all of them, I don't want to put
some of them in the same basket -- but some of
them it's so, so difficult," he further said.
But it was an early blow for Chelsea at the King
Power Stadium when Eden Hazard limped out of
the pitch on 31 minutes after a late tackle by
Vardy, and Mourinho insisted he didn’t understand
the extent of the injury before the Belgian left the
field.
"The only thing I know is in 10 seconds he made
the decision himself," Mourinho went on saying,
"It must be a serious injury because he just left
the pitch and just made the decision not to go in.
"His first reaction was 'I can't' and I was going to
make the change. His second reaction was 'I
want to try,' and when he goes on the pitch, first
step he immediately says 'I can't do it.' It was
him in a few seconds who had three different
perspectives, but clearly he couldn't do it."
Mourinho also admitted that Chelsea's ninth
defeat of this season ends all their hopes of
finishing in the top four and said now he doesn’t
know how to steer his men out of their slump.
"I don't know another way than work at the top
level, which is what I do every day," he said. "And
again, I have to be honest and say that day by
day in training I have no complaints with the
players.
"If I look at some matches and feel frustrated
with the difference between what they do in
training and what they do in matches, clearly
yes.” That says all, he doesn’t know where the
problem lies.
"But I have to be honest with the players and say
every day I enjoy working with them because
they want to work."
Mourinho however has some consolation as he
thinks a Europa League spot is still possible
despite their shameful start to the season.
"We can't finish top four, but we can still finish
top six because so many teams are dropping
points, but at the moment, we're in a zone where
I feel ashamed." His frustration was quite
eminent.
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