Jose Mourinho rejects Chelsea 'mutiny' speculation, won't 'run away'

Jose Mourinho has dismissed speculation he is struggling to retain control of the Chelsea dressing room.

The London Evening Standard, which reported the "mutiny" on Thursday, said "a significant section of the first-team squad have become unsettled by Mourinho's public criticism of individuals in the team and among his backroom staff."

Sources had also told ESPN FC earlier this month that a number of Chelsea players had begun to have doubts about the former Inter Milan and Real Madrid boss in February.

However, Mourinho had told his employers that they would be making a major mistake if they sacked him after the 3-1 defeat to Southampton at the start of the month, and he has since received public backing from both the club and a significant number of his players.

Asked about the mutiny talk, he told reporters including The Sun: "Mutiny? What mutiny? My reaction is that, in the last three or four days, Asmir Begovic said we had the best manager in the world.

"Kurt Zouma said the same and John Terry that we have the manager we want and the one who can help us to correct this situation.

"Diego Costa said if you ask every player in the world, they will all answer the same: That they'd like to work with three managers and one of them is me. Who else? [Cesc] Fabregas, the same. Ramires, the same. [Ruben] Loftus-Cheek, the same. [Gary] Cahill, the same. Eden Hazard, very similar."

He joked that those who had not made their support public -- including summer signings Baba Rahman, Papy Djilobodji and Radamel Falcao -- must therefore be responsible.

He added: "So I think the mutiny must be ... must be Baba, Baba ... who else? Papy? Falcao? Oscar? So those four don't play Saturday, for sure!"

Mourinho, who was speaking to promote his self-titled new book, highlighted the fact he had just brought the title to the club for only the second time since his first stint ended in 2007.

While the Blues still had Petr Cech and Didier Drogba on the books last season, John Terry was the only member of Mourinho's old guard to play a significant role last season.

"I came back in a special moment in Chelsea's life," he said. "It was the end of a super squad that was the stability for almost 10 years, but we won the title.

"I said last year, the first Premiership without Frank Lampard is something amazing because Frank Lampard was Frank Lampard, representing a super generation, and to be champions without that generation for the first time was a huge success.

"And we want to do more. Obviously I'm not going to run away from the moment, I'm not going to say we are playing amazingly and the results are fantastic.

"You are right. The results are bad, but I'm not going to run away from it and I believe more good moments are going to happen again."

Mourinho signed a new four-year contract in August and he added in The Times: "When I signed, it was not to run away from responsibilities, but to work and fight and wait for the results of our work."