Jose Mourinho dares Chelsea to sack him in epic post-match rant

Chelsea slumped to their fourth defeat in eight Premier League matches this season when they were beaten 3-1 after a woeful performance that left them 16th in the table.

[BLOG: 7 Truths: Mourinho is on the brink, Aguero is irreplaceable, Messi is priceless]

[STORY: Chelsea crisis deepens after 3-1 defeat to Southampton]

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[STORY: Jose Mourinho's seven-minute monologue]

And Mourinho did not hold back in his post-match interview that turned into a seven-minute monologue...

"I want to make it clear, I don't run away at all," he said to Sky Sports.

"If the club want to sack me, they have to sack me because I'm not running away from my responsibility and my team.

"I'm more convinced that we will finish top four and that is okay."

There have been murmurs of discontent emanating from the Chelsea dressing room in recent days.

Neil Ashton of the Daily Mail reporting on Friday that senior Blues players including John Terry, Cesar Azpilicueta and Nemanja Matic have been left stunned by the stinging individual criticism that has been directed their way in recent weeks.

However, after the match Mourinho remained adamant that everyone had to take responsibility.

[STORY: Rumours of discontent at Chelsea as Mourinho's 'brutal criticism' harms morale]

"I think this is a crucial moment in the history of this club because if the club sacks me, they sack the best manager this club had and the message is bad results and the manager is guilty."

"This is a moment for people to assume their responsibilities. I assume my responsibility and the players should assume theirs too.

"There are other people at the club who should assume their responsibilities and stick together."

He continued: "I consider myself to have a big self-esteem and a big ego, and I consider myself the best, leaving the worst period of my career and worst results of my career.

"Doing that as a professional hurts me a lot, doing that at Chelsea hurts me twice because it hurts me as a professional and because I like this club very, very much so I want to carry on, no doubt."

Chelsea are very much out of sorts this season – of that there is no doubt. Where from here? Well, after a post-match press conference such as this, Chelsea have to start winning. Mourinho is often credited to manipulating the media to his own wants and needs but his reaction in the wake of another disappointing defeat seemed to lack the usual control. The pressure is on.