Chelsea midfielder Ramires says Jose Mourinho has not lost his players

Chelsea midfielder Ramires says the only way Jose Mourinho would leave the club would be if he lost the trust of the dressing room, something he insists is not the case. Mourinho has come under pressure amid the club's dreadful start to their Premier League title defence where they have lost four of their opening eight games, leaving them sat in 16<sup>th place, just five points off the foot of the table.

Such is the extend of the malaise at Stamford Bridge, the Chelsea board felt the need to provide their manager with a 'vote of confidence' on Monday 5 October days after a 3-1 defeat at home to Southampton. That defeat was followed by a seven-minute rant from Mourinho in his post-match interview where he insisted he would only leave the club if he felt his players were no longer playing for him − something Ramires insists is not the case.

"We've not lost a bit of trust in Jose. Everyone trusts him. We think he is the best manager for us," the Brazil international said, The Independent report. "Obviously when things don't go the way that everyone expects, a lot of questions are asked. But we still trust him.

"I understand perfectly where he is coming from with what he said regarding where, if he didn't have the confidence of the players, he would step aside. But that's not the case at all. We are all together.

"Maybe it's a shared guilt because when things don't got the way that everyone expects, people look at the players and the manager. But we are all working together to get out of this situation − we want to be at the top of the table. Not the bottom."

Ramires did, however, concede that perhaps some players are not meeting the manager's high standards and believes the responsibility of lifting the club out of their current slump rests with the squad. "Maybe some players are not doing what he expects them to do, so that's why he is on top of us, on top of things, trying to get a reaction because he knows he can get the best out of us.

"So we all need to calm down and we can get out of this. Obviously when you lose a few games in a row, the confidence level goes a bit low. We've not had the chance to win a few games in a row and get back that confidence."