Abramovich joins inquest in Chelsea dressing room after shock Champions League defeat against Basle... as Carragher and Redknapp insist it's 'just not working' for Mourinho

Roman Abramovich paid a visit to the Chelsea dressing room after the 2-1 defeat against Basle in the Champions League saw Jose Mourinho's side face a backlash from fans.
Mourinho questioned his players’ fighting spirit as their Champions League campaign got off to a disastrous start on Wednesday night.
Sportsmail columnists Jamie Redknapp and Jamie Carragher slated the new-look Blues as goals from Mohamed Salah and Marco Streller left the Stamford Bridge boss with egg on his face as his side slumped to shock 2-1 home defeat to Basle.
The defeat prompted unhappy Chelsea owner Abramovich to head straight down to the tunnel to see his players.

Roman Abramovich paid a visit to the Chelsea dressing room after the 2-1 defeat against Basle in the Champions League saw Jose Mourinho's side face a backlash from fans.
Mourinho questioned his players’ fighting spirit as their Champions League campaign got off to a disastrous start on Wednesday night.
Sportsmail columnists Jamie Redknapp and Jamie Carragher slated the new-look Blues as goals from Mohamed Salah and Marco Streller left the Stamford Bridge boss with egg on his face as his side slumped to shock 2-1 home defeat to Basle.
The defeat prompted unhappy Chelsea owner Abramovich to head straight down to the tunnel to see his players.

Glum: Abramovich looked like he wasn't too pleased after the match

Not pretty watching: Jose Mourinho suffered only his second ever defeat at Stamford Bridge

Plenty to ponder: Gary Cahill, Oscar and John Obi Mikel reflect on a sobering defeat

 

Jose Mourinho: We lost. I am responsible

Speaking ahead of the Champions League opener Mourinho said he wanted to ‘nurture his beautiful young eggs’.
But last night, the Special One claimed his side folded under the pressure against their Swiss opponents 
‘Do I have egg on my face? Of course,’ said Mourinho. ‘I’m the manager and responsible for everything. The bad results and bad moments.
‘But I think the team is probably not a team with such maturity and personality to face the difficult moments of the game.  
‘Against Everton we played amazingly and they scored in the second half and, after that, you could feel the team was struggling despite dominating the game.  
‘Today was a bit the same. The team started accepting the responsibility of playing, addressing the opponent and trying to create.  

Head in hands: Frank Lampard (left) looks stunned as Basle celebrate their shock victory at Stamford Bridge

Rumblings of discontent: A Chelsea fan shows his displeasure at Juan Mata's lack of first-team action

‘But when the first negative moment arrived — the equaliser — the team shakes a little bit. But that’s work. The only thing you can do is work.’ 
Speaking on Sky Sports last night, Sportsmail columnist Redknapp was critical of the performance and said: 'If it wasn't for Jose Mourinho you would probably be thinking "What is this guy up to? What's their identity? What's their best system? How do they play?'
'I've watched them from the start of the season and I've seen so many players in different positions. No Mata, I still can't believe he doesn't pick him. When I think about Chelsea retaining the ball and people comfortable on the ball he has to play.'
'I don't think Jose really knows what his best team is. When you play football it's about building relationships, be it centre backs, midfielders, wide men, front men, at the moment nobody can develop any relationships because they don't know who's going to play or what team it's going to be.

Head boy: Streller (centre left) celebrates with fellow goalscorer Mohamed Salah

Stunner: Mohamed Salah (centre) celebrates with his Basle team-mates after levelling the scores

'But I think at the moment there is no real system to how they are playing, so many different players. Where's Schurrle? De Bruyne? So many players we saw at the start of the season and we've not seen him since.'
Sportsmail colleague Carragher added: ‘They haven't got a centre forward, have they? 
'He's tried them all, he's brought Ba in there, he's tried going with no striker at Old Trafford - he's tried everything. It just isn't working. 
'No matter how many players you've got, your wide player, your No 10s, your floating players, if you haven't got a centre forward a lot of it falls down really. 
'All the time I've seen them it's like they are a man down already before they've started the game.'

Matchwinner: Marco Streller (second right) steals in at the near post to head Basle's decisive second goal

Redknapp agreed with Carragher's words on the striker problem at Stamford Bridge.
'Drogba was the focal point of Chelsea. If you look at Eto'o at times he floats out to the left, he floats out to the right, you've got nobody to play off. 
'I know Drogba is history but I still believe you need somebody up there. YOu've got so many players who want to come inside, I don't see any width, nobody wants to run without the ball, everybody wants the ball to their feet. 
'I couldn't believe the performance of Hazard today. I never saw him go back with a full back once.'
Mourinho was particularly critical of the way his side conceded Streller’s winner from a corner.
Mourinho said: ‘The second goal was very difficult to accept because we work very much on the organisation at defensive set-pieces, and the header is in a position where we had two players defending that zone, and we lost Streller.  

Flying the flag: Oscar celebrates after opening the scoring for Chelsea at the end of the first half