LONDON -- Jose Mourinho has lost control of Chelsea. Their slide has him cornered, forced to defend himself and even answer questions about his own future as manager.
In losing 3-1 to Southampton, Chelsea were unrecognisable from last season's Premier League title winners. The faces are the same, but this has become a team skirting a relegation place rather than sitting comfortably at the top of the table, as they were this time last year. And Mourinho himself has lost control of his own message.
The trademark confident swagger is lost, replaced by a shrill defensiveness that does nothing to explain why his team have dropped off a cliff.