Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has revealed the one thing that would cause him to walk out on the club for a second time—losing the trust of his players.

So report Neil Ashton and Matt Barlow for the Daily Mail, who shared the Portuguese manager’s remarkable post-match interview with Sky Sports following the Blues’ 3-1 defeat to Southampton.

Mourinho said:

Go straight to the players. If they tell you they don’t trust me, it is the only thing that can make me resign.

Ask the players. Don’t go with fake sources, the player’s told a friend and the friend’s told the agent and the agent is not happy because I don’t play his player.

Fortunately for Mourinho, captain John Terry insists he has the faith of the players despite the defender being dropped for significant portions of the current campaign.

The 34-year-old told Chelsea’s official website:

We have a big group of players and we have the best manager who we remain behind and we remain together. That is what you do in tough circumstances.

I have been here a long time and I have seen managers come and go and if anyone is going to get us out of this hole it is going to be Jose Mourinho.

The club currently reside in the unfamiliar territory of 16th in the Premier League table having won just two games all season.

Chelsea have already lost four matches—more than in the entirety of last season’s title-winning campaign—out of their first eight, including two at Stamford Bridge, formerly a fortress under Mourinho in the Premier League.

In sharp contrast to last season, when they boasted the meanest defence in the league with just 32 goals conceded, the Blues have already shipped 17—more than half of that total and better only than Sunderland.

The spell is comfortably the most difficult in Mourinho’s trophy-laden managerial career, in which he has tasted great success at Porto, Inter Milan and Real Madrid as well as Chelsea.

Talented and successful as he is, the 52-year-old is firmly treading on new ground here and it’s possible his lack of experience in dealing with situations such as this is hindering his attempts to push his side back up the table.

Tactically at least, it’s difficult to pinpoint the root of the problem as he is using the same 4-2-3-1 system that won them the title last season with largely the same personnel.

Simply, almost every single one of their players is significantly under-performing. Eden Hazard has looked a shadow of his former self and is yet to score this season, while Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic have left the defence horribly exposed.

Completely vulnerable, the likes of Terry and Branislav Ivanovic, 31, have looked their age and the whole back line has made a catalogue of errors.

If Mourinho is true to his word, he still has plenty of time to steady the ship before the players lose trust in him though, as his previously unblemished record warrants patience in the face of a bad two months.

That said, if he can’t right things sooner rather than later, owner Roman Abramovich could make the decision for him.

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