Jamie
Carragher says Chelsea are now in a battle to even reach the top four, while
Thierry Henry and Graeme Souness insist manager Jose Mourinho's job is still
safe.
Chelsea lost their fourth Premier League game of the season against
Southampton on
Saturday Night Football, going down 3-1 having lost
in the Champions League at Porto in midweek.
The Blues were booed off after a fourth loss in eight Premier League games
left them 16th in the table, one place below newly-promoted Bournemouth.
And Carragher, speaking on
Super Sunday, says their title challenge
is now over, and that the efforts of his players will be a major concern to
Mourinho - who has been backed by his captain John Terry.
"It is without a doubt [the end of their title challenge]. The fight on now
is top four, as Jose mentioned, that's the target for them now," he said.
"That second half is the worst half I've seen from Chelsea this season. We
talk about the mentality of the team, the fragility of it. It goes to 1-1
and the team completely fall away.
"Last season we watched Manchester City and were very critical of them in
terms of desire, appetite. This is a lot worse.
"Jose Mourinho has been criticised for speaking publicly about his players,
but the way they're playing, he has to.
"We've never seen something like this in the Premier League era, maybe go
back to Leeds United 25 years ago, for the champions to perform so poorly.
"The big worry for Jose Mourinho is that he's built success on players
running through a brick wall for him. You watch the team now and they're in
quicksand.
"They can't run, I've never seen a team look so slow, laboured. It doesn't
look like they are [playing for him], and that has to be the biggest worry
for Mourinho and Chelsea."
Mourinho's first spell at the club ended after Chelsea had picked up 11
points out of a possible 18 in the first six games of the 2007/08 season,
but this time around they have just eight points from a possible 24.
Nevertheless, Souness believes Mourinho's job is not under threat, but he
admits both the players and manager will be assessing each other critically.
He said: "I don't think he's vulnerable at this time. What he's done for
that football club, what he's done for the vast majority of those players,
that buys him a certain amount of time, but this is a whole new experience
for him.
"He'll be looking at some of the players he regarded as winners, big
personalities, achievers, and be asking them to have a look in the mirror.
"But on the other side of the coin, they'll be looking at him very closely.
This is a whole new ball game for him. He's never had to confront this
situation before.
"He's coming out and questioning the attitude of some of them, which is the
beginning of a very dangerous road to go down."
Henry agreed - and says Mourinho is facing a problem he has rarely faced
before in his managerial tenure.
"I don't think he is in danger. The danger is trying to make top four, like
he said himself," Henry said.
"He's facing the toughest challenge he's ever had in his career. For the
first time he has to make sure he can bring those players along.
"Are they still buying into what he's asking them to do? I don't think so.
They didn't look like a team who were very interested in winning the game. I
didn't see that togetherness between the boss and his players.
"He's going to have to face something that he never before has faced because
he never stayed long at a club."
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