Chelsea goalkeeper has revealed that Jose Mourinho lost his job at Stamford Bridge because the ‘results were not acceptable’. Speaking to Sky Sports, the Blues goalkeeper said they were losing games with alarming regularity and even draws were frowned upon at that stage of the season.
The defending champions were down in 16th place when Chelsea sacked Mourinho in December. They had lost nine times in the first 16 matches and very close to the relegation zone rather than battling for the title. A 2-1 loss to Leicester City away was the final straw and the Portuguese manager lost his job just seven months after winning the Premier League crown.
Begovic, who had made a summer move to the club from Stoke City, was initially the second-choice goalkeeper to Thibaut Courtois. But an injury to the Belgian goalkeeper early in the season saw Begovic stand in goal for 11 league games and 5 Champions League matches.
Confidence dropped after negative results: Begovic
“Overall it has been a tough year,” Begovic said. “But I have enjoyed my time there playing and that is obviously what you want to do. The run in the team did me lots of good.
“The desire was always there and we tried in all the games, even towards the end of Mourinho's tenure, but sometimes in football things do not always go your way,” he continued.
“And when negative results start building up, then confidence obviously drops and everything turns against you. But I think the effort and commitment was there from the players. We certainly tried.”
Begovic also lamented the fact that they were not able to put the bad results behind them before trying to win the next game.
“The atmosphere was not a lot of fun. We tried to keep positive and keep each other going,” he opined.
“But obviously when you go from one bad result to the next game and it does not start the way you want and a man gets sent off, another questionable decision, then you start feeling that negative feeling again.
“So it was difficult at times, but we had good characters, just unfortunately at a club like ours the results we had were not acceptable. And unfortunately someone pays the price, and that is the way it worked out.”
Recent reports now suggest that Mourinho is on his way to Manchester United having signed a pre-contract with the Old Trafford club.
Mourinho did not lose the dressing room: Begovic
A number of reports suggested that the players at the club had lost confidence in Mourinho to get results. Players such as Eden Hazard, Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas were booed by the home supporters after Mourinho was sacked but Begovic did not think the same.
“I do not think so, even towards the last few games we had some good results,” Begovic explained. “We got a draw at Tottenham [Hotspur] and won in the Champions League in the last two group stage games.”
The Blues had topped their group in the Champions League with convincing wins over Maccabi Tel Aviv and FC Porto.
“Obviously, the loss at Leicester was the final straw and, like I said, the results were not acceptable, even draws.
“We were expected to win every single game and be at the top of the table and it was unfortunate that those sort of things happened.”
