A first-team player at Chelsea has reportedly said that they would rather lose than win for Jose Mourinho as questions over the Portuguese boss's future continue.
Chelsea are 15th in the Premier League table after losing six and winning just three of their first 11 matches of the season following the 3-1 defeat to Liverpool on Saturday.
Question marks have been raised over the working relationship between Mourinho and his players, and according to BBC Sport reporter Garry Richardson the feeling in the dressing room has hit "rock bottom".
"Let me tell you what I know on the Chelsea story. My information comes from a Chelsea first team player and was actually passed to me by a football contact," he said.
"I was told that Jose Mourinho's relationship with many of his players is at rock bottom. I was told that they are fed up with the way that he has been dealing with some of them. They are fed up with his outbursts.
"I was told that his relationship particularly with Eden Hazard is under immense strain. One player said recently 'I would rather lose than win for him'. Now that last quote may well have been said in the heat of the moment, but it perhaps gives an insight into the mood of some of the players."
Mourinho said after the latest Stamford Bridge defeat that he was confident that he would be given time to turn the club's fortunes around, but Chelsea have taken just 11 points from their first 11 matches in comparison with the 29 that they had accrued at this stage last season.
Tom Nightingale
