By Clare Lovell
LONDON, Nov 7 - Jose Mourinho is in the
unaccustomed position of having to put on a brave face after a
fortnight of reverses culminated in Chelsea's first league
defeat in 41 games.
The super-confident Portuguese boss pronounced himself "not
afraid of the future" following Manchester United's 1-0 victory
at Old Trafford which came hard on the heels of Chelsea's
Champions League defeat at Real Betis.
Mourinho and his Roman Abramovich-bankrolled squad of top
international talent are treading on unfamiliar ground, however.
Chelsea had notched nine victories in a row from the start
of the season before bottom club Everton held them to a 1-1 draw
at Goodison Park on Oct. 23.
There followed an ignominious penalties exit at home to
Charlton from the League Cup, a trophy they won last season.
Three days later, their much vaunted defence, backed by Petr
Cech between the posts and which broke records for its
impregnability last season, conceded two goals for the first
time since December last year against Arsenal.
They went on to beat Blackburn Rovers 4-2 but, on Nov. 1,
went down 1-0 in Seville to a Spanish side they had trounced 4-0
only two weeks before.
A fortnight ago many thought Chelsea's progression to the
knockout stages of the Champions League a formality. Today they
find themselves in a three-horse race in their group with
Liverpool and Betis and needing points from their last two
games.
It is only the second time since Mourinho arrived at Chelsea
after winning the Champions League with Porto, that they have
lost two games on the trot. The last time was in February when
they stumbled 1-0 in the FA Cup at Newcastle before losing the
first leg of a Champions League tie that they went on to win
against Barcelona.
SPECIAL ONE
Their previous league defeat dates back to Oct. 16 2004, at
Manchester City and Chelsea went on to win the championship by a
margin of 12 points last season.
Mourinho, the self-styled "special one", has suffered two
defeats in a row on four occasions in his five-year managerial
career, the other two were with Uniao Leiria in 2001 and Porto
in 2002.
He has never lost twice in succession in the league.
The rest of the Premier League may have sighed collectively
with relief at Chelsea, and Mourinho's, recent fallibility.
There have even been mutterings in the British press of
unrest in the London side's tight ranks with reports of tension
between Mourinho and injury prone winger Arjen Robben as well as
unsettled Argentine striker Hernan Crespo.
Mourinho will doubtless use all his famous psychology and
motivational skills over the next few games, though his attempts
to reinforce an esprit de corps will be delayed this week by
international fixtures with most of his multi-national squad
dispersed.
He has started already, talking up his side's performance
immediately after the game at Old Trafford, saying he was proud
of his players who would stay calm and confident.
"This was a game we did not deserve to lose," he said "I
hope they (United) can realise why Chelsea are champions, top of
the league and I believe will be champions again."
A six-point cushion over surprise second-placed Wigan could
be reduced to three if the promoted side win their game in hand.
United in third are still 10 points adrift and Arsenal lie a
point behind, both with an extra game to play.
While few would bet against Chelsea winning the title again
the Londoners' blip will give their rivals heart.
It is Mourinho's job to quash such hopes and he insisted
others would eagerly swap places with Chelsea given the chance.
"We are not under pressure now," he said.