EPL: Jose Mourinho demands better show from Chelsea

After seeing his side slump to 0-1 defeat to Bournemouth, Chelsea coach slams players; Jose rules out asking club to spend money to sign players in January transfer window

London: Jose Mourinho remains adamant he will not ask Roman Abramovich for money for emergency signings next month despite Chelsea suffering their eighth defeat in the first 15 games of a dismal Premier League title defence.


Jose Mourinho

Newly-promoted Bournemouth won 1-0 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening thanks to an 82nd-minute goal from substitute Glenn Murray. That left last season's champions marooned in 14th place and 14 points off a top-four place, and Mourinho was highly critical of his players for failing to score against a team that had never before kept a clean sheet away from home in the top flight.

But he stood by an earlier promise that he would not ask owner Abramovich and the Chelsea board to sanction the acquisition of fresh faces once the transfer window opens in January. "Again I feel that we don't have the right to ask the club for players," he said. "We started this season with this squad and the players have to do better. It is more about the players having to do better than the club going to the market.

"People must feel responsibilities. The club is the club, and when I say the club, I mean the owner and the board — they are not responsible for the bad moment. The bad moment is my responsibility and the players' responsibility."


Chelsea's Cesc Fabregas (left) and Nemanja Matic react after Bournemouth's goal at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Pic/AFP

Murray had only been on the pitch for a few seconds when he headed home from close range, and was actually offside when he did so, with Bournemouth having earlier survived a penalty appeal when Diego Costa's cross hit Simon Francis on the arm.

"We didn't deserve this result," said Mourinho. "In our best period, when everybody was waiting for our goal, they score. It was a penalty and the goal was offside. The referee made a mistake and the linesman made a mistake, and that's football."

The goal was by no means Bournemouth's only opportunity however and fit-again goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, playing for the first time in three months, made a number of saves.

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