Looks like the end for broken Mourinho
Chelsea's boss is a broken man waiting for the sack
CHELSEA 1
(Ramires 4)
LIVERPOOL 3
(Philippe Coutinho 45+3, 74, Christian Benteke 83)
The camera caught Jose Mourinho swallowing hard. He actually swallowed, as if fighting back tears. He wasn't. He's not that kind of man.
But the wide eyes and croaky cry of "come on" seemed pitiful, painful to watch.
Mourinho (left) has been many things in his Chelsea career. He's never been pitiful.
But that's what he looked like when Philippe Coutinho rifled in the second of a glorious double to send Liverpool towards a stunning 3-1 win at Stamford Bridge.
For Juergen Klopp, the first EPL victory was the sweetest. For Mourinho, the last cut must be the deepest.
It's not just another defeat, another unwanted record or the harrowing position near the foot of the table.
It's not even the hypnotic melodrama that follows Mourinho everywhere like a Shakespearian tragedy he can't shake off.
It's that harrowing look of a beaten man that haunts like an unwanted sporting spectre on Halloween.
When Liverpool went ahead, he had nothing. The tank was empty. He was an athlete turning the final bend only to discover the finishing kick had gone.
His history is secure, but the legacy is irretrievably tainted. Eleven points from 11 games is relegation form. The champions are flirting with the bottom three.
The manager who moulded champions no longer knows how to disassemble chumps and start again.
The men he made into serial champions, the men who made him, betrayed him in a grotesque display.
Three avoidable goals, three defensive errors and three nails in the coffin; Mourinho must know the end is near, but he never expected his skipper to be one of the pallbearers.
John Terry was at fault for the first two goals and Gary Cahill gifted Liverpool the third as Mourinho's second stint at Chelsea unravelled in a matter of minutes.
It wasn't meant to end like this. After four minutes, it never looked like it was going to end like this.
That's all the time Chelsea needed to ridicule what Klopp has to work with.
James Milner left Manchester City in a huff, forever lamenting his inability to hold down an anchoring role while overlooking his inconsistency that came to the fore at Stamford Bridge.
He lost possession on Liverpool's right and allowed Cesar Azpilicueta to gallop away. The cross was decent, but Alberto Moreno's defending was calamitous.
MISTAKE
Klopp has already earmarked the left back as the kind of drifting talent he likes to resurrect, bringing him back into the fold and offering a confidence boost.
Klopp believes Moreno needs a leg-up. He needed a step-ladder against Ramires. Moreno lost the midfielder, lost the flight of the ball as the unmarked Chelsea man sent in a thumping header.
Liverpool's manager spoke positively of both Moreno and Roberto Firmino during the week and there was an alarming suspicion that he might have backed the wrong horses.
Once the lead was secure, Chelsea pulled back.
Liverpool pressed without an end product; it was their respective seasons in microcosm.
The Reds ruled the possession stats, but powder-puff finishing rendered them irrelevant.
Firmino may be a fine forward, but bore No. 9 responsibilities like a ball and chain.
Coutinho often drifted ahead of him, but Chelsea ignored the early warnings.
In stoppage time, the Brazilian cut inside Terry so sharply it was a wonder the Blues skipper didn't have whiplash before curling a peach into the top corner.
The porous element of Chelsea's line-up didn't begin and end with the back four.
Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic were both benched as Mourinho sought to bolster his defence, but another key member of the title-winning side fluffed his lines again.
Eden Hazard drifted across the front three and conspired to contribute little in any position before he was put out of his misery in the 60th minute.
Mourinho must be at a loss to explain the sudden demise of his most creative dynamo.
He's not alone.
But selection headaches were not unique to the home side. As Firmino laboured, Klopp's line-up threatened to undermine him.
Christian Benteke, a born battering ram and a fine goalscorer against Southampton last week, would have profited from the visitors' possession earlier, but Klopp didn't introduce the Belgian until the 64th minute.
The move paid dividends.
KILLER TOUCH
Off the leash, Coutinho curled in an even better second in the 74th minute, sidestepping Terry once more.
Nine minutes later, Benteke made a case for first-team selection when he slotted home after more disastrous defending, led by the erratic Cahill.
More than anything else, the manner of defeat destroyed the myth, leaving behind a shell-shocked man facing questions he can no longer answer.
At the final whistle, the only voices heard belonged to Liverpool, singing that song.
You'll Never Walk Alone.
But Mourinho did.
In an excruciating post-match interview, he kept saying the same thing. He had nothing to say.
But the Chelsea faithful had already spoken on his behalf. They'd gone home.
They'd turned their backs on their fallen idol.
It's all over.
Mourinho: I'll remain as Chelsea boss
A defiant Jose Mourinho expects to continue as Chelsea boss, despite Liverpool inflicting a sixth defeat in 11 Premier League games on the Blues last night.
Mourinho was once again fuming at perceived injustices against his side, notably the decision not to show Liverpool's Lucas Leiva a second yellow card when the score was 1-1.
Two further strikes followed in Liverpool's 3-1 win which left Mourinho's side with one win in eight games.
Asked if he thought the game was his last as Chelsea boss, Mourinho said: "No."
Mourinho, who was subject to the first managerial vote of confidence in Roman Abramovich's 12-year ownership on Oct 5, will be wary of what the future holds.
Abramovich was absent from Stamford Bridge, so he did not witness the defeat or hear the defiant and supportive chants from the home faithful.
After a terse television interview, Mourinho was initially asked his thoughts on the contest in the post-match media conference and declined to give them.
"I'd like to listen more than being questioned," he said.
He was asked how a side which cantered to the title in May had fallen off the pace so much.
"Did you see the game?" he responded.
Next, he was asked about Lucas avoiding a second yellow for a foul on Ramires.
"What do you think? You are not punished by the FA. I'm punished if I tell you," said Mourinho, who is subject to two separate and ongoing disciplinary procedures from the Football Association.
"There are things that are out of our hands," Mourinho added. "Two minutes extra time (at the end of the first half), we concede the goal on two minutes 35 seconds.
"Then what happened in the second half everything is a consequence of some crucial moments. Moments that the stadium saw, the players more than see, the players felt it. From now, what happens is just a consequence."
Mourinho was asked about the support from the Chelsea fans, who sang his name often throughout, and took the opportunity to make a veiled criticism of referee Mark Clattenburg and his officials.
"I have some players really sad in the dressing room and I am full of respect for them. We see it match after match," Mourinho added.
"As professionals, they are not getting the respect they deserve. I'm really sorry with that lack of respect for professionals."
Asked to explain what he meant by lack of respect, Mourinho said: "You are all intelligent guys. If you want to write, you write.
"Next press conference, I will bring you nice glasses, maybe you see the game in a better way."
Mourinho's next task is to prepare for Thursday morning's (Singapore time) Champions League Group G clash with Dynamo Kiev. - Wire Services.
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