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Jose Mourinho has hit back at claims that there is a mutiny among his Chelsea first-team, saying that reports of a mutiny at Stamford Bridge are "sad" and "unfair".
Chelsea players have supposedly been calling Mourinho by a one-word derogatory nickname behind his back, something that is said to have spread through the squad after a dismal start to the season.
The defending champions have only picked up eight points from their first eight matches this season and are down in 16th, 10 points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City.
"It’s sad but I don’t care really, I don’t care. I spoke with the players about it and the players are also sad about it, but there is no way to care," Mourinho told talkSPORT when asked about the claims.
"We know what we are, we know the relationships between ourselves," he added. "We know that we are together trying to go back to normality but it is quite sad because people could analyse the situation in pure football terms.
"Let’s try to find the reason why this team is playing badly and why it is not winning matches, without agendas and without unfair comment, because that’s not nice."
Show all 17 1 /17Premier League Power Rankings Week Nine Premier League Power Rankings Week Nine <b>17) John O'Shea (Sunderland) - new entry</b> It's not yet clear who exactly new manager Sam Allardyce is going to play, but what is usually clear about his teams is that he wants them to be tough to beat. With main attacking threat Jeremain Lens suspended and Jermain Defoe out of sorts, Allardyce will need to figure out how to score goals later. He needs a positive result in his first match in charge and captain John O'Shea is an experienced head who will have to lead by example. A draw would be a reasonable start.
Last Fixture: D - 2-2 - West Ham
Next Fixture: West Brom (a)
Premier League Power Rankings Week Nine <b>16) Diego Costa (Chelsea) - new entry</b> By any measure Diego Costa has had a poor season, the opposite of his blistering start to life in England. By this time last year he already had nine Premier League goals. He has just one this season and hasn't looked like scoring many more. Costa returns from his ban with Chelsea in crisis, he has to help ease that with goals.
Last Fixture: L - 1-3 - Southampton
Next Fixture: Aston Villa (h)
Premier League Power Rankings Week Nine <b>15) Romelu Lukaku (Everton) - re-entry</b> The Belgian's form seemingly fluctuates from the sublime to the ridiculous one week from the next. Luckily for the Toffees, he is slap bang in the middle of a fine bit of form that saw him cause problems all day for Liverpool, against whom Everton should have got a result. Arsenal proved that Manchester United can have a soft centre and Lukaku should be relishing the chance to take on Blind and Smalling.
Last Fixture: D - 1-1 - Liverpool
Next Fixture: Manchester United (h)
Premier League Power Rankings Week Nine <b>14) Harry Kane (Tottenham) - down 7</b> It's just not quite breaking right for Kane this season. After his brilliant spurt last year, Kane started the season slowly then appeared to get back on track with a well-taken (offside) goal in a thrilling win against City. But it was back to square one against Swansea, where a terrible miscue saw him slice into his own net. He played reasonably well in two England wins but failed to get on the scoresheet, and now faces a brand new Liverpool, whose defence has been poor for a long time.
Last Fixture: D - 2-2 - Swansea
Next Fixture: Liverpool (h)
Premier League Power Rankings Week Nine <b>13) Rudy Gestede (Aston Villa) - down 1</b> Alarm bells are ringing long and loud at Villa Park now, with Tim Sherwood's team still without a win since the opening day of the season. Their football is rough and ready, with Gestede the focal point of a long-ball attack that offered little danger against Stoke, the type of match a team must win if they want to avoid the drop. A trip to Stamford Bridge can be looked at in two ways - are they facing a crisis club at as good a time as any or a wounded animal desperate for a win?
Last Fixture: L - 0-1 - Stoke City
Next Fixture: Chelsea (a)
Premier League Power Rankings Week Nine <b>12) Dmitri Payet (West Ham) - down 3</b> What a player West Ham have on their hands. The Frenchman has the type of quality that should be enough for him to trot out for a Champions League club somewhere in Europe, but instead he is planted in east London and the Hammers are all the better for it. Four goals and three assists already for a player who has paid back most of that £10m fee.
Last Fixture: D - 2-2 - Sunderland
Next Fixture: Crystal Palace (a)
Premier League Power Rankings Week Nine <b>11) Graziano Pelle (Southampton) - up 3</b> The best target man in the division. There aren't too many left in England who play in a bruising style up front on their own but the Italian is the best at it. Not only does his 6ft 4in frame allow him to win the physical battle - see his clobbering of Terry and Cahill at Stamford Bridge - Pelle marries that size with considerable skill and excellent decision making. Would be a worthwhile option on a title challenger if he wasn't already 30.
Last Fixture: W - 1-3 - Chelsea
Next Fixture: Leicester City (h)
Premier League Power Rankings Week Nine <b>10) Yohan Cabaye (Crystal Palace) - up 3</b> The weeks roll by and the Eagles continue to win with a minimum of fuss. Tony Pulis would have been desperate to get a result on his return to Selhurst Park but that was overshadowed by the relentless attacking from Palace, who never allowed the Baggies into the match. The eye-catching wing pairing of Yannick Bolasie and Wilfried Zaha hog the highlights, but it's the main getting them the ball and setting the tempo that deserves most praise. Palace are for real.
Last Fixture: W - 2-0 - West Brom
Next Fixture: West Ham (h)
Premier League Power Rankings Week Nine <b>9) Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) - down 1</b> Riyad Mahrez has slightly fallen away (and out of these rankings) after a blistering start and was an unused substitute against Norwich. But in his place Jamie Vardy continues to rise, taking his tally in the last five matches to six at Norwich, ass he offered up another energetic display with the quality to match. Nabbed an assist for Raheem Sterling against Estonia at Wembley and is right on the fringes of a place at Euro 2016. If others lose form or are injured, Vardy will be on the plane/ferry/Eurostar.
Last Fixture: W - 1-2 - Norwich City
Next Fixture: Southampton (a)
Premier League Power Rankings Week Nine <b>8) Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) - down 5</b> Another week goes past and another shoddy performance from the Manchester United captain. He surely must be on the verge of a spell out of the team by now? Against Arsenal he offered no goal threat or creativity in possession and no willingness to stop the opposition when out of possession. He's only so high on this list this week because he faces a homecoming at boyhood club Everton. That would be as good a place as any to find a bit of form.
Last Fixture: L - 3-0 - Arsenal
Next Fixture: Everton (a)
Premier League Power Rankings Week Nine <b>7) Odion Ighalo (Watford) - up 7</b> Five goals is a superb return from the youngster, who gets to test himself against one of the best teams in England on Saturday evening. Arsenal visit Vicarage Road and while they attack as well as any team in the league, the Gunners are always susceptible to concede, especially if quick strikers can expose their high defensive line. We look forward to seeing if the Nigerian can prove it against top class opponents.
Last Fixture: D - 1-1 - Bournemouth
Next Fixture: Arsenal (h)
Premier League Power Rankings Week Nine <b>6) Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) - new entry</b> His whopping £55m transfer fee is barely talked about such has been the quality of the Belgian's start to life at the Etihad. Three goals and two assists in three starts for City so far, De Bruyne has been a brilliant acquisition and is outplaying fellow big signing Raheem Sterling by a long way. With Sergio Aguero and David Silva both expected to be missing with injury, the goal scoring burden will fall to the likes of De Bruyne and Sterling. Bournemouth won't be the stiffest test, but Manchester United are looming.
Last Fixture: W - 6-1 - Newcastle United
Next Fixture: Bourenmouth (h)
Premier League Power Rankings Week Nine <b>5) Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) - down 4</b> His post-Copa America hangover is well and truly over - Sanchez is the best player in the Premier League right now. He absolutely shredded Matteo Darmian to pieces at the Emirates a week after a brilliant hat-trick against Leicester. Sandwiched between those two impressive wins was the disastrous defeat to Olympiakos, a game in which Sanchez was the only player to perform for the Gunners. In all he has nine goals in his last five matches and would be higher on this list if Arsenal had a tougher fixture. Arsene Wenger will be hoping that the long flight to South America doesn't bother him too much.
Last Fixture: W - 3-0 - Manchester United
Next Fixture: Watford (a)
Premier League Power Rankings Week Nine <b>4) John Stones (Everton) - up 2</b> Has missed Everton's last two matches only further highlighting how good he already is. Has been the form centre-back in the Premier League this season and surely has to start for England at Euro 2016, Anthony Martial and Wayne Rooney know their work will be cut out for them at Goodison Park. Hopefully he is fully fit.
Last Fixture: D - 1-1 - Liverpool
Next Fixture: Manchester United(h)
Premier League Power Rankings Week Nine <b>3) Aleksandar Mitrovic (Newcastle United) - new entry</b> Not on this list because of his performances this season, far from it. But with Norwich visiting St James' Park on Sunday this is a game Newcastle absolutely have to win. They are still to win this season and Steve McClaren is under enormous pressure. Newcastle were superb in the first-half at Manchester City before imploding and losing 6-1; Mitrovic scored a smart goal but then fluffed his lines when offered the chance to make it 2-0. £13m summer signing Mitrovic has to produce.
Last Fixture: L - 6-1 - Manchester City
Next Fixture: Norwich (h)
Premier League Power Rankings Week Nine <b>2) Eden Hazard (Chelsea) - up 2</b> Just what is going on with Eden Hazard? In Blue he has no goals in 10 appearances in all competitions this season, with the crisis club picking up eight points from eight games. With Belgium's Red Devils he has four goals in four matches this season and was captain of a side who just reached No 1 in the World Rankings. Chelsea have been desperate this season and need the reigning Player of the Year to find his form and Aston Villa are hardly the biggest test. Jose Mourinho's job depends on it.
Last Fixture: L - 1-3 - Southampton
Next Fixture: Aston Villa(h)
Premier League Power Rankings Week Nine <b>1) Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool) - up 1</b> Jurgen Klopp's era starts at White Hart Lane. Plenty has been made of Klopp and his tactics during an excellent reign at Borussia Dortmund, with his team favouring a high-tempo, passing style of football that emphasises speed, width and quick movement of the ball. Looking through the Liverpool squad it is obvious that Klopp does not yet have the players to play that way, with the Reds sorely lacking quality wingers. Sturridge is the best goal-threat Liverpool have available, but will Klopp decide to play him wide? Sturridge was never happy about that at Chelsea and it's a waste of his talents.
Last Fixture: D - 1-1 - West Ham
Next Fixture: Leicester City(h)
Mourinho had also earlier responded to the report, speaking at the launch of his book Mourinho , stating that he knew he had the backing of the players, as a number of them had publicly backed him.
"My reaction is Begovic (and I'm speaking about the last three or four days) said we had the best manager in the world. Zouma the same. JT: 'we have the manager we want, the one who can help us to revive this situation'. Diego Costa: '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 this one'.
Mourinho at the launch of his new book (PA) 'Who else? Fabregas, the same. Ramires, the same. Loftus-Cheek, the same. Cahill, the same. Eden Hazard, very similar.
"So I think the mutiny must be... must be Baba (Rahman), Baba... who else? Papy [Djilobodji]? Falcao? Oscar? So these four don't play Saturday for sure. Official."
The Chelsea hierarchy were moved to give Mourinho their backing after the shock 3-1 defeat at home to Southampton before the international break, but insisted that results and performances must improve.
Chelsea face Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
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