Jose Mourinho: Eden Hazard must improve workrate

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has told Eden Hazard to improve his defensive workrate after dropping the playmaker for the Premier League champions' 2-0 win at home to Aston Villa.
Hazard, the recipient of numerous player of the year awards last term as Chelsea won the title, began on the substitutes' bench as Diego Costa scored one and forced an Alan Hutton own goal to ease the pressure on Mourinho and pile more on Villa boss Tim Sherwood.
"I left out Hazard because we are conceding lots of goals. We need to defend better," Mourinho said.
"When you don't have the ball, quality means nothing and what means (thumps chest)... you have or you don't have.
"It was just a tactical decision, leaving super quality on the bench, but bringing tactical discipline and hoping that the team could be solid.
"Willian and Pedro did amazing defensive work and allowed the (central) midfield players to be very comfortable.
Hazard will be left out until he makes the same defensive contribution as Willian and Pedro.
"I continue that way, or he comes in our direction and tries to replicate the same work that Willian and Pedro did," Mourinho added.
Mourinho addressed his whole squad prior to the match, which was the first since Chelsea lost at home to Southampton on October 3 and prompted the first managerial vote of confidence in Roman Abramovich's 12-year ownership.
"I told the players that this is not the moment to think about themselves, to think about their personal situation, a moment to moan or to try to be selfish in the approach," Mourinho said.
"This is a moment for the team, just the team, and nothing else.
"I have to make decisions to try and bring results back."

‘I’ve never had such a bad start to a season

Jose Mourinho has told talkSPORT Chelsea’s miserable start to the Premier League season is the WORST period in his decorated managerial career.
The 52-year-old boss joined the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast for an exclusive interview on the release of his new book, MOURINHO.
The Portuguese’s side are currently languishing in 16th place in the table, just four points above the bottom three, after claiming only two wins from their opening eight games.
Their run of results – losing against Manchester City, Crystal Palace, Everton and Southampton – has culminated in the worst start to the campaign of a defending Premier League champion EVER.

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It’s unfamiliar territory for perennial winner Mourinho – who has claimed no less than eight European league titles as manager – and when asked if his side’s slump is the worst of his career, he admitted: “Yeah.
“The results are negative, there’s no way to hide it.
“I’ve never lost four matches in eight, I never had such a bad start to the season, it’s never happened.
"I’m not the kind of person to try and find words when the easiest word to say is that the results are bad.
“We’ve lost four matches in the Premier League, we’ve conceded goals and our fantastic record at home as become just one victory at home against Arsenal, so there is no way to hide the results.”
Various reports over the past weeks have questioned Mourinho’s future at Stamford Bridge, rumours which forced the club, and a number of his players, to publicly put their support behind the boss.
And the three-time Champions League winner is confident he can turn the Blues’ season around, starting with Aston Villa on Saturday.
“We’re still the champions,” Mourinho added. “We won the last title three months ago, not 30 years ago. The manager is the same, the players are the same.
“We know that by December and January were will be closer to the top than to the bottom of the table, we know that for sure.
“I think the best thing to do is to believe in ourselves, and I believe in myself more than any other person.”
“The situation is not dramatic…but the reality is we need points, we need to win matches.”

Another injury blow for Klopp's Liverpool

 

Liverpool have been rocked by the news striker Danny Ings is likely to miss the rest of the season through injury.

Ings, who joined the Reds from Burnley in the summer, ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in training on Wednesday and is facing around six to eight months on the sidelines.
That timescale will also leave him fighting to be fit for next summer’s European Championship finals, having made his debut for England against Lithuania earlier this week.
The news comes as a further blow to new Anfield boss Jurgen Klopp, who has already lost Joe Gomez to a serious injury this week.
Ings' hopes of being involved in Roy Hodgson's squad for next summer's tournament in France are now in serious jeopardy.
He will definitely miss the friendlies with Spain and France next month and is unlikely to be available for the clash with Germany next March.

Joe Gomez set to miss the rest of the season with knee injury

Joe Gomez is set to miss the rest of the Premier League season after suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury, dealing new boss Jurgen Klopp his first blow as Liverpool boss.
The defender sustained the injury during the latter stages of England under-21’s 3-0 victory over Kazakhstan on Tuesday night in Coventry.
Gomez was a key player under former boss Brendan Rodgers and Klopp is also believed to be an admirer of the 18-year-old having sent scouts to watch him at Charlton Athletic last season.
Klopp had the opportunity to cast an eye over his squad for the first time at Melwood on Wednesday as he prepares to take charge of his first game since taking the Reds’ hotseat, against Tottenham on Saturday.  

Jose Mourinho fined by FA for comments

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has been given a suspended one-match stadium ban and fined £50,000 by the Football Association for comments made about match officials.

Mourinho had claimed officials were "afraid" to award his team penalties after Robert Madley denied Chelsea a spot-kick in a 3-1 loss to Southampton.
The FA charged that his comments "imply bias on the part of a match official".
Mourinho's ban will only be enforced if he repeats the offence within a year.
The home defeat by Southampton was Chelsea's fourth loss in the defending champions' opening eight Premier League games of the season and left them 10 points behind leaders Manchester City and four points above the relegation zone.
Speaking after the game, Mourinho had said the Blues were "always punished" by officials because "there is always a question mark" from the media.
"If the Football Association wants to punish me they can. They don't punish other managers," he added.
A Chelsea spokesperson told BBC Sport the club would wait to read the FA's full reasoning before making any comment on the verdict.
Mourinho was charged hours after the Blues said the Portuguese retained their "full support" following back-to-back defeats.
His side return to Premier League action at home to Aston Villa - four points and two places below them - on Saturday.