Bullish Jose Mourinho ready for a fight

For a manager again in danger of losing his job if he loses his next game, Jose Mourinho didn’t give away any signs of pressure in his demeanour ahead of Chelsea’s decisive Champions League match with FC Porto.

Some of his words, though, were a slightly different matter. This was an oddly relaxed Mourinho far removed from the prickly figure he cut when Chelsea were at their worst this season, but still nowhere near as forceful as when he is at his best. He said too many eyebrow-raising things, and offered one big statement of self-protection and self-preservation. The latter was despite the fact he completely dismissed the idea of getting sacked, as Chelsea try to claim the draw that will also keep them in the Champions League.

Mourinho had been asked what might happen if he loses, and his side are eliminated.

“There are no ifs, I am an optimistic guy,” he stated, before offering a very optimistic spin on Abramovich’s entire history as Chelsea owner.

“I don’t think the owner is a person to change with the wind,” Mourinho said. “I know the wind of results is an important wind. I know this wind is strong because the results in the Premier League are really bad, but I think the owner knows who I am and that I am the right person to do the job.”

That is something Mourinho has said before, but there was then another new spin on his. Even though he had literally just argued he is the only man for the job, he immediately said he wasn’t the only man responsible for this mess. It is difficult to remember even Mourinho being so deflective in that regard, or so directly pinning blame onto his squad.

“Now, I don’t speak about the owner, but just about the reality of the situation. You can read these bad results and focus everything on the manager. You can look at the results and look to players with performances below acceptable [levels]; you can look to this and look to the unlucky decisions we’re having in every competition, not just the Premier League.” Then the decisive sentence.

“You can look in many directions and decide this is not a one-man responsibility. But that is just my point of view.”

At the same time, Mourinho also went on a long monologue about how all that’s been missing from his side’s season is the finishing touch, that the only real problem now is an inability to take their chances.

“I feel a contradiction between the quality of the work and what happens on the pitch,” Mourinho said, but it was impossible not to detect some contradictions in his message. He was at once expressing full confidence in his side’s overall work, but also criticising core traits of their player, with that almost reflecting how stop-start Chelsea’s season has been.

One thing is indisputable from any point of view. That clear inability to score - one goal in the last three Premier League games - means Mourinho is going to have to think deeply about how to approach this game, how to protect the advantage Chelsea have but also not put themselves at risk by sitting too deep.

The manager claimed he wouldn’t go defensive, but with a caveat.

“I don’t want to think that way, or my players to think that way. Obviously if it’s 88 minutes gone, we might adjust our play to make sure we get through. But, for now, we go into the game wanting to win it.” The deeper problem is Chelsea have barely won any games against sides as good as Porto this season, and lost to many at home much worse. One of those sides was Bournemouth at the weekend, and the wonder is whether the manner of Glenn Murray’s chaotic winning goal will again erode the defensive assurance that Chelsea had genuinely built up in the last few weeks. This is certainly likely to be a tense night, especially if we do reach 88 minutes and it’s 0-0.

It would be hard not to worry about any Porto attack at that point, and it may cause Abramovich to decisively worry about the future under Mourinho. For all that, the manager was asked whether defeat could actually present a solution to so many problems. Finishing third in the group and then winning the Europa League could be a more realistic route back into the Champions League next season than finishing in the top four, given they lie in 14th.

“I know what you mean,” Mourinho smiled.

“But there is another possibility, which is to win the Champions League.” They first must just avoid defeat tonight.