Mourinho feels 'betrayed' by Chelsea players after loss to Leicester City
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho feels his work was "betrayed," putting the onus on his players following their ninth loss of this season Monday at Leicester City.
The 2-1 result leaves the Blues just one point above the relegation zone.
Mourinho said he had spent four days preparing for this match, identifying specific moves he wanted his players to prevent in the defensive end. Two of those plays, he said, yielded the goals by in-form duo Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez.
"One of my best qualities is that I can read the game and identify the strengths of the opponent and tell my players that," the manager said. "Big frustration to accept the goals because my work was betrayed, if that is the right word."
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Mourinho also admitted the rest of the Premier League can count Chelsea out of the race for the top four.
"The top four is gone, clearly," he said.
In many ways, Leicester's win confirmed the massive turnaround in fortunes. Chelsea, with largely the same players from its title-winning campaign, sat atop the table at this point last year, with Leicester at the bottom.
"Some of my players are not at their right level. That is hard to watch. Last season I did phenomenal work, I brought them to a level that they are not really at," said Mourinho.
"Day by day in training I have no complaints with them. But is it frustrating to see what they are doing in training and what they do in matches? Clearly yes."
Related: Claudio Ranieri, Riyad Mahrez grounded despite return to English summit
Despite Chelsea's troubles, Mourinho said he's not prepared to accept the potential for a relegation battle.
"I accept we are in the relegation zone but I don't accept we are in a relegation battle," he said.
Like several other post-match news conferences, the 52-year-old Portuguese defended his position as manager, and confirmed he wants to continue to do his work.
"The only thing I can say is that I want to be the manager. I have no doubts and I think you know me well enough to know that I am not afraid of a big challenge and in this moment it is a really big challenge," he said.