Fabio Capello: Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho repeating the mistakes that cost him the Real Madrid job

Former England manager Fabio Capello has warned Jose Mourinho he is making the same mistakes at Chelsea as he made at Real Madrid by demanding too much from his players. The champions have suffered a disastrous start to the defence of their Premier League crown having already lost four of their opening eight league games, leaving them 10 points behind early leaders Manchester City.

The club's rotten start to the season has seen Mourinho's position fall under scrutiny, with the club issuing a vote of confidence to their beleaguered manager on Monday (5 October). But Capello, who managed England between 2008 and 2012, insists Mourinho's malaise is a mess of his own making, saying the Portuguese 'Special One' has once again made the mistake of demanding too much too soon from his players in the pursuit of silverware.

"Mourinho burns out his players after a year and a half, at most two years," Capello said on Fox Sports."I had already heard it when he was in Madrid and now we have confirmation in London.

"It is true that Chelsea are paying for some of their absences – like [Thibaut] Courtois – but there have also been tactical errors from the coach, who this year is not preparing for matches very well."

Chelsea suffered successive defeats last week in their Champions League trip to Porto and at home to Southampton, with Mourinho later challenging the club's board to sack him if they feel they have no other choice.

But a statement from the club reiterated their confidence. "The club wants to make it clear that Jose continues to have our full support," Chelsea said in an official statement. "As Jose has said himself, results have not been good enough and the team's performances must improve. However, we believe that we have the right manager to turn this season around and that he has the squad with which to do it."