In-depth: What is going so wrong for Chelsea?

Four points from four games and eight points off Premier League leaders Manchester City. It was not meant to be like this for Jose Mourinho and his Chelsea side.

"Four points in four matches is a very bad start," said Mourinho, in the aftermath of Chelsea’s surprise 2-1 defeat at home to Crystal Palace yesterday.

His side won their first four games last season.

"In another league I would say game over. In the Premier League I don't say game over."

So what’s going on at Stamford Bridge? Have other teams simply got a grip on Mourinho’s Chelsea? Are we to blame Eva Carneiro? Or are Palace actually title contenders?

Mourinho is still optimistic it seems, although you would think even he would have concerns over his previously water-tight defence. The Blues are yet to keep a clean sheet this season, after conceding two more goals at home to Palace. Who knew the departure of back-up goalkeeper Petr Cech to rivals Arsenal could be quite so damning?

John Terry was hurled off at half-time during Chelsea’s humiliating 3-0 defeat to Man City and it is quite clear he and Gary Cahill are not quite the force they once were in central defence.

Terry, absent through suspension, was a spectator behind the dugout yesterday as Branislav Ivanovic struggled to get a grip on Palace’s Bakary Sako after Swansea’s Jefferson Montero and Raheem Sterling had already given the Serb vivid nightmares this season.

At the other end, Chelsea are not quite free-scoring so far this campaign, but even Colombian striker Radamel Falcao managed to bag himself a goal on Saturday.

Of course they can, now let's not get silly. Chelsea find themselves in an uncomfortable situation but knowing Mourinho, he has probably still managed to find a way to revel in the misery surrounding their start to the season.

His attacking ranks remain frightening, and the individual qualities of Diego Costa, Pedro, Eden Hazard, Cesc Fabregas and even Loic Remy, are enough to win games single-handedly.

Despite this, his star players haven’t sparkled enough in recent matches, and Mourinho is losing his rag with trusted players.

"If a player is not performing, there are two ways to look at it," he said. "The first one is that I trust the player so much that I will wait for the improvement. You wait, wait, and wait and maybe it comes or it doesn't come.

"Or, even when you are trusting the player, (there) arrives a moment when you think, 'I have to change'. And I can go both ways."

The biggest worry for Chelsea is that Manuel Pellegrini’s City show no early signs of letting up, with Raheem Sterling gradually finding his groove. And to think former Stamford Bridge outcast Kevin De Bruyne hasn’t even signed yet.

Chelsea, as the home side, dominated against Palace for large spells, of course. But Alan Pardew’s men came with a game plan, to hit the hosts on the counter and boy didn’t they execute it? Palace find themselves deservedly second in the table, where Chelsea ought to be. Madness.

But former pro Danny Higginbotham tells us that everybody wants to play counter-attacking football now, even those big, bad and ugly top-four sides. In the first 38 matches of the Premier League season, only seven have been won by the home side.

“The first 30 minutes is becoming the decisive period in Premier League matches. If the away team survives that, and frustrates the home team, then they become the favourite,” said ex-Stoke defender Higginbotham in the Independent.

“They can sit deep, nullifying the home side’s pace, playing on their frustration, and hoping to pick them off when they over-commit.”

Interesting isn’t it? So Palace win at Stamford Bridge, while West Ham have managed impressive scalps at both Arsenal and Liverpool, but slipped to defeat at home to Leicester City and AFC Bournemouth. Everton romped to a 3-0 win at Southampton, thanks to the pace and power of Romelu Lukaku, Ross Barkley and Arouna Kone on the counter-attack. The list really does go on.

“This is going to become normal in the Premier League, and results will almost become clear within 30 minutes. This is the era of the counter-attack, and everyone wants the right to play on the break.”

Monopolies such as Chelsea are not getting their way it seems, as so-called lesser sides, such as Crystal Palace and Swansea, frustrate them with the fine art of counter-attacking football. Although, Manchester City are doing alright.

Big, scary Chelsea are used to getting their way, and Mr Mourinho even more so. But they are not finding it quite so easy on or indeed off the pitch, with Everton manager Roberto Martinez, refreshingly, putting his ickle size 7 (it might be smaller) foot down on all things John Stones.

Even Mourinho’s outburst at club doctor Carneiro didn’t turn out as planned for the Portuguese. Rather than the explicit outbursts and wild statements towards his medical staff being shoved under the carpet, they were magnified for all to witness and analyse. Mourinho cannot dictate as he has before, it would seem.

Chelsea can't get their own way any more. ‘Money can’t buy you Stones,’ sang Evertonians to the tune of 1987 Beatles hit Can’t Buy Me Love at Tottenham yesterday.