There is something far more frightening than trick-or-treaters the past Halloween weekend if you’re a Chelsea fan – the Premier League table.

This time last season Mourinho’s men were marching confidently into November unbeaten in the league, but fast forward twelve months and things could hardly be more different.

The confident swagger with which the Blues once played seems a distant thing of the past. Mourinho’s unbeaten home record lies in tatters as the Bridge is no longer a fortress, and visitors, like the aforementioned trick-or-treaters, turn up expecting things for free.

Liverpool were the latest beneficiaries of Chelsea’s abysmal form. Take a look at Mourinho’s post-match interview. The man who had an answer for everything in interviews now finds himself speechless.

If Chelsea's supposed transfer enquiries were anything to go by then perhaps Mourinho had foreseen some of his side's current shortcomings. The once dependable John Terry looks a shadow of the man who lifted the Premier League trophy some six months ago.

It's no wonder, then, that Chelsea offered in excess of £30m for Terry's so-called understudy, John Stones, and were even rumoured to have tabled an audacious £60m+ bid for Juve's Paul Pogba.

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It was clear Mourinho saw room for improvement. But failing to improve their starting XI with two unproven young defenders, a Brazilian teenager and the once-failed former world class forward Radamel Falcao, perhaps the signs were there that Chelsea were destined to struggle.

If Manchester City's three-nil drubbing of Mourinho's side - which in truth, could have been five or six - was a warning, back-to-back defeats against Crystal Palace and Everton threatened to send west London into full-blown crisis. But it wasn't just on the pitch that problems were mounting. By the time these losses came about, Chelsea were working with a new club doctor after Jose Mourinho's ever-so-slightly controversial removal of Eva Carneiro.

She was essentially dismissed for doing her job, not knowing that Eden Hazard was perhaps feigning injury as is so common under Mourinho. Compare the attitude and desire of those at Chelsea with their former boss and current Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri for instance. It's perhaps ironic that the last employer of the pre-money era now shows more spirit, passion and determination than his old club in its entirety.

Public criticism of Mourinho was at an all-time high, something the former Real Madrid boss wouldn't have been expecting after winning the league on his return to England. How does a man who knows nothing but success deal with imminent failure? Badly, of course.

The self-proclaimed special one was simultaneously facing a social media backlash for his wrongful dismissal of Eva Carneiro and struggling to get to grips with his dilapidated defenders. Not only was Terry's form perfectly summarised by his red card at The Hawthorns but the previously dependable Branislav Ivanovic was easily beaten by every opposing winger he came up against.

Like his teammate and club captain, the Serbian's legs were failing him and he could no longer catch up with opponents. Further forward, Costa was misfiring and Hazard’s form resembled more Micky than Eden. Mourinho was not afraid of ringing the changes, either. He dropped several of his established stars in the following games in a bid to 'stop the rot,' so to speak.

But it has been well documented that the Portuguese-born manager is rather a novice in failure, and his mad chopping and changing of the team sheet failed to remedy the decline of his side. No, changing the team could not stop the proverbial rot. The club is rotting from the inside.

It's safe to say that Chelsea aren't the most beloved of all English sides. Having enjoyed little success pre-Russian billionaire, the club went on to buy their way to the top, doing so with dislikeable figures such John 'Racist Allegations' Terry and more recently Diego 'Street Fighter' Costa.

And while the side that won the Premier League remains largely the same, it is not a team packed with the experience of a few years ago and the ability to deal with adversity. With Thibaut Courtois out injured, Asmir Begovic is a more than capable replacement but lacks the top-level experience of Champions League winner Petr Cech who perhaps controversially joined title rivals Arsenal this summer.

There's no more Frank Lampard to dig them out of sticky situations or Didier Drogba to consistently find the back of the net from the most improbable of angles. But this shouldn't be a problem for last year's champions despite the relative inability to strengthen in the summer transfer window. The problems were far beyond those on the pitch, and they lie with the man who sits near the top of the monopoly. The same man who has gone from the George Clooney of management to having a hairline badly impersonating Steve McClaren’s. The fall from grace of a cool, calm and collected character is almost embarrassing at times post-match.

Jose Mourinho's infamous losing interviews give us a lot of insight into his inability to suffer defeat. He's almost like a toddler who can't stand not winning. This mentality, while having its obvious advantages when faced with the odd loss, can also backfire horrifically against a club.

One can only speculate as to the number of training ground and dressing room problems occurring at the moment but if Mourinho's interviews are anything to go by, this inability to suffer loss is having a more than detrimental effect on his side's confidence.

Imagine going into the boardroom at your work and seeing your manager constantly blame external factors for the company's inadequacies, deflecting each problem with a fresh excuse. And at its worst, after last weekend’s loss to Liverpool, Mourinho could not respond to the reporter’s questions. Sadly for his beloved fans, I fear this will seal his fate as Chelsea boss.

He simply has no answer to his side's shortcomings.

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Article by Aaron Elliott, author of http://hotspurway.blogspot.co.uk/

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