A
breakdown in Jose Mourinho's relationship with his players left Chelsea
owner Roman Abramovich with no option but to sack the manager, according to
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher.
Mourinho was relieved of his duties on Thursday afternoon, despite having
guided the club to its fourth Premier League title just seven months ago.
However, with Chelsea currently languishing down in 16th place in the table
and sitting just a point above the relegation zone after 16 games of the
season, Mourinho was dismissed by the club for the second time.
"Everyone in football knows if it's between the players and the manager,
they will fire the manager because it's very difficult to get rid of a whole
group of players," he told Sky Sports News HQ.
"He did a fantastic job and maybe didn't get the recognition he deserved
really, because Chelsea had been out of the running for the title for a few
years before he came back.
"This season, with the way that he manages, he's very demanding of the
players, he doesn't accept defeat, he's hung them out to dry publicly. I
think he's probably tried everything as a manager to get results and it
hasn't worked.
"It's probably been the most difficult time of his career and he's been left
thinking: 'What do I do next?' because we've never seen him in this
situation where he's struggling for results and people are questioning him."
Carragher believes there must have been a complete collapse in Mourinho's
relationship with his players for the club to still be struggling so badly,
with Chelsea having lost nine league games already this season.
"There's been a major fallout between him and the players, because no group
of players of that quality should be where they are," he said.
"He has a way of working that's been very successful. I think he's still
been successful in this spell.
"But I think the idea this time was that he was going to try and stay for
five or six years, which he's never done - which is something that will
maybe be thrown at him, that he doesn't have the longevity of other great
managers.
"But in terms of a manager coming in for two or three years I don't think
there's many better."
The former Liverpool and England defender thinks Abramovich has made the
right decision though in opting to part company with Mourinho.
Carragher said: "I don't think they've made a mistake. I'm a massive fan of
Jose Mourinho, but the way the results were going couldn't continue for a
team that's had so much success under an owner whose very trigger happy. So
something had to change.
"The results have been really poor, but [Abramovich] has maybe given him a
bit longer than he gave previous managers.
"So though it is sad to see him leave the Premier League, it was the only
decision to be made really."
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