Mourinho struggling as he ‘can’t live with defeat’ – Carvalho

Jose Mourinho’s former protege Ricardo Carvalho believes the Chelsea manager’s current struggles are because he “can’t live with defeat,” while ex-Stamford Bridge coach Ray Wilkins insists that any other boss would have already been sacked for a similar slump.

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Chelsea welcome Porto to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night still reeling from Saturday’s shock 1-0 Premier League defeat at home to Bournemouth, and they require at least a draw to progress to the knockout phase of the Champions League.

Mourinho’s immediate future has been the subject of intense speculation after an eighth defeat in 15 Premier League matches left the defending English champions 14th in the table, with reports this week claiming that he has a week to rescue his job and may be sacked even if Chelsea reach the round of 16 in Europe.

Carvalho won the Champions League as a Porto player under Mourinho before following him first to Chelsea and then Real Madrid, winning league titles under his fellow Portuguese at all three clubs.

The veteran centre-back, now at French club Monaco, thinks losing affects Mourinho to such an extent that it is having a negative impact on his work, but insists his fellow Portuguese remains capable of leading the Chelsea recovery.

“Mourinho can’t live with defeat, that’s why he isn’t doing great,” the 37-year-old told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser.
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“Despite that, I think he’s the right man to turn things around at Chelsea. If they qualify, I think that Chelsea can go a long way in the Champions League. They aren’t doing great in the Premier League, but they can knock out anyone in Europe.”

This is the worst start to a season by any Chelsea manager in the Roman Abramovich era, but the club’s Russian owner has kept faith in Mourinho to fix the team’s problems despite having dispensed with several other bosses for less.

Wilkins, who served as assistant at Stamford Bridge to three different managers until he was dismissed by Abramovich in November 2010, believes that Mourinho’s track record is the only thing buying him time.

“Any other manager would have gone, there are no two ways about it,” Wilkins told beIN Sports. “Mourinho is only still there, purely and simply, for what he’s done in the past.

“The big thing for Mourinho is Europe, he loves the European competition and Abramovich just adores it, so if they lose against Porto, then he could be on his way.

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“They are away at Leicester next week so if something is going to happen, it will happen, I would have thought, after this week. I don’t think it will happen this week.”