Keep Jose, but give him a holiday

Just one of many back pages which have mounted the pressure on Mourinho.

Haven't we been here before? Yet another weekend's back pages are dominated by the crashing reputation of 2015's hero-to-zero fall guy. Jose Mourinho has been on the brink for some time - somehow squirming inches towards the precipice without the final push being delivered. Defeats continue to rain down on the Portuguese manager like a traditional English summer. 

The mercilessly awful form that Chelsea are exhibiting is compounded by Mourinho's antics, which are increasingly illustrating The Special One as a desperate, agitated character who has completely lost control. Far beyond the debasing rant against doctor Eva Carneiro, Mourinho shows no shame in ramping up his blame tactics to eleven. This weekend saw another display of irate flouncing and sardonic gestures on the touchline, before the inevitably bizarre post-match interview.

The familiar sarcastic laughter aimed at the referee.

It doesn't take a body language specialist to see that Jose Mourinho is under intense, inescapable pressure (although try telling that to the BBC, who decided to get a body language specialist to show that Jose Mourinho was under intense, inescapable pressure). The Chelsea boss is unlikely to have ever experienced anything close to this sort of scrutiny in his high-profile career, with the renowned hawkish behaviour of the British media coupling delightfully with one of the most surprisingly weak title defences in recent history.

It is precisely the nature of this pressure's ubiquity, coupled with the sensible truth that Jose Mourinho is a world-class manager capable of creating and directing a team that can challenge at the very highest level, that leads to my solution: Jose Mourinho needs a break.

Perhaps one or two months. Perhaps the rest of the season. A break from football, far away from the prying eyes of the tabloids and 24-hour sports news networks. A chance to forget about Chelsea, the referees, and the undiminished hunger to see Jose fail. 

Currently, every interview can only be another stage of hell for Jose.

My interpretation of Mourinho's recent antics are that he is trapped. It's never been uncommon for The Special One to deflect criticisms against his team towards all manner of outrageous targets. When things are going relatively smoothly, it's an effective tactic - Sir Alex Ferguson knew the value of protecting his players from the media too. 

However, Mourinho's most recent efforts are not a result of careful thought and deliberation - anyone with a clear head would have known that another animated touchline outburst, followed by a shirty interview, is a bad idea given the media whirlwind surrounding the club. It seems far more likely that Jose Mourinho is starting to freeze up under this pressure, returning to his most learned response as a coping mechanism.

The increased prevalence of 'the conspiracy theory' correlates directly to poor results.

Mourinho is stuck in a cycle. Chelsea lose, the pressure grows. The pressure grows, Mourinho reacts. Mourinho reacts, the team morale continues to fall. The team morale continues to fall, Chelsea lose. There was a stage earlier on in the season where a couple of favourable results, whether the fruit of good performances or lucky breaks, would have plugged the leak of seeping pressure. However, the job is now irreparable, and even a few victories would still leave Mourinho looking precarious, as it is extremely unlikely that Chelsea will reach their pre-season expectations of retaining the Premier League.

Many have commented that Mourinho has never had to lift a club out of this volume of mire before, and that this situation is test of The Special One's true resolve. Perhaps Mourinho feels he needs to prove something to these people, but it would be far more in his interests to admit he needs some help. Chelsea never hired The Special One to revive a failing squad, because that has never been what made him special. Mourinho should bite the bullet, ask Abramovich for a month or two off, allow an interim manager to get the team motivated again, and return to work in order to harness the relentless and clinical ability he has to win trophies.

Mourinho and trophies go hand-in-hand - could Chelsea afford to lose that?

It is most certainly an unorthodox approach, but Chelsea are facing a unique problem. No-one questioned Mourinho's managerial prowess before the season started, but it is clear that he is in no mental state to reach his own lofty standards. Chelsea would be foolish to let one of the world's top managers go, but to keep him will only do further damage. It might be a blot on his copy book, but if Mourinho could get past admitting that he's not the right manager in this specific situation, perhaps there is a solution that will benefit all parties beyond.

Monday Comment - Are Mourinho's Media Tactics Wearing Thin?

Mourinho's post-match interview guarantees headlines.

It's not unusual to see teams completely out of place in the league standings after just five games, but that fails to soften the shocking start that Chelsea have had, leaving them teetering on the dotted line of relegation. Three defeats out of five games,  star players turning completely anonymous, and antics from Mourinho that are increasingly becoming a pure circus-act, have brought the pre-season favourites to their knees.

One wonders just how much of an impact the Eva Carneiro fiasco had on the Chelsea players and staff. While Mourinho refuses to back down on his comments following the 2-2 draw with Swansea, it has inarguably caused more of a distraction than a deflection. This sort of attempt to detract attention from the poor performances of players is nothing new, but the cruel impact it has had on someone's professional life may have turned figures within the club against Mourinho's brash media tactics, as whispers are suggesting.

Mourinho's treatment of the club doctor was a step too far for many.

Besides, Mourinho's famed wheel of excuses is now falling extremely short of blocking the attention of the punditry from his slack squad. Eden Hazard, Cesc Fabregas and Branislav Ivanovic have all come in for their rightful share of heavy criticism after littering Chelsea's opening games with poor performances. It's almost as if the usual method of trying to deflect media scrutiny from his team is making analysts more determined to pick out the growing problems with Chelsea's football, ignoring the redundant excuses that inevitably tumble down the pipeline after the final whistle (very little has been made of Mourinho's ludicrous claim that part of the team's defeat to Everton was down to the computers breaking the day before).

We're left with an interesting situation at Chelsea now. Mourinho must band together a team short on form and morale, a task that has seldom cropped up for 'The Special One' in his years of relentless success. Despite the problems, it seems unlikely that he will face pressure against his job unless this patch of form continues into the winter, but Mourinho is driven towards league titles and will be desperate to get the club's title campaign back on track.

Martial's lore

Martial's goal was very Thierry Henry, but he won't want to end up going all Bebe.

Another great Old Trafford tale may have begun on Saturday, when Anthony Martial shifted the ball past a trio of dumbstruck Liverpool defenders before slotting home in front of an ecstatic Stretford End. Martial's move to Manchester United comes with an enormous amount of pressure - arguably more than any teenager footballer has had to deal with before. However, if his goal against United's fiercest rivals is anything to go by, the rising French star will hardly break a sweat.

United haven't always had much luck bringing in young strikers. Names such as Federico Macheda, Bebe and David Bellion represent unmet promises in the team's past. Anthony Martial still has a long way to go before he can permanently escape that list, but time is on the 19 year-old's side. Martial will continue to develop over the next few years, and such a high transfer price means that he should find himself given plenty of opportunities, lest the board are made to look like money-tossing fools.

The battle for fifth - Leicester versus Palace?

Riyad Mahrez has been one of the early stars of the season.

Two teams that have truly been impressive in the first five fixtures are Leicester City and Crystal Palace. Leicester finished last season on a high, yet remarkably Claudio Ranieri has worked out how to shift the team into an even higher gear. Fast attacking play has made the Foxes the joint-highest scorers in the league alongside Manchester City with 11 goals, and with a seemingly insatiable strikeforce, it seems that Leicester will continue to thrill and entertain throughout the season.

Where Leicester have arguably benefitted from a winnable run of fixtures, Palace have endured the opposite, taking on Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City in the first five games. Despite this, Alan Pardew's side have looked impressive in every match they have played, and sit in fifth with 9 points. Even in their defeats to Arsenal and Man City, they have performed extremely well and were unlucky not to snatch a result. Palace were touted as potential dark horses pre-season, but it seems more as if they are a legitimately excellent side that ought to expect a top-half finish at the very least.

Yohan Cabaye may be the buy of the summer.

Can either of these teams push for Europe? It feels as if there could be a surprise this season, and currently these two sides look the most likely to pull it off (Swansea would also be a contender here, despite their defeat to Watford). Considering the run of fixtures both sides have had, I would argue that Palace are more likely to finish in the top 6 than Leicester. It certainly wouldn't be beyond Alan Pardew - let's not forget how close he came to driving Newcastle into a Champions League spot in 2012.

Ighalo goal gets Golden Boys going

Ighalo's second goal of the season sealed Watford's first win.

You may or may not remember how I argued for Watford's survival a few weeks back. I'm not saying I was definitely right all along, but I feel that Watford's victory is a good reminder of their ability to succeed for those who had mentally put the nails in the coffin.

Admittedly, the stats didn't look good - no goals in 3 games, no wins, etc. But Watford have played well in all of their fixtures, and have scored points against strong teams. It did seem as if people had already written off the promotion side who hadn't yet thrilled, but I think there's more to come from Watford, and the Vicarage Road fire is only really simmering.

Nevertheless, it was crucial they scored a confidence-boosting victory against Swansea, as a winless start can have a damaging, numbing effect on a season.