Chelsea fans, it's not time to panic just yet

After winning the title last year, only a mad man would have predicted this kind of start for Chelsea. 4 games gone and we are 13^th in the Premier league table and are already trailing leaders Manchester City by 8 points after picking up a measly 4 points from a possible 12. There are numerous reported factors behind the poor start to the season, and I think it is a combination of these that have caused it.

For a start, the decision to start pre season almost a month after most other clubs was not the right decision from Mourinho. Although the players deserved the extra break, and I can see why Jose may have thought it would benefit them, in reality, it was always going to come back and bite us. The majority of the team has looked unfit, lacking the right mentality or levels of sharpness to recreate the form of last season.

Mourinho claimed that he did this due to our faltering end to last years campaign, but I believe that was not due to a lack of fitness or energy, but in fact a sense of complacency amongst the players. I think Mourinho and his background staff have also experienced this, and perhaps expected the teams around us to not improve as much as they have done, and that this was in fact why he gave the players an extra holiday period.

He was clearly wrong. Most of the teams around us have strengthened massively and the overall standard of the premier league is much higher, meaning our team must be in top physical condition to maintain the predominant force in England. I still think we have the best starting 11 in the league, and if each player performs to the levels that we know each of them can, I believe we can still win the title. City and all other teams are bound to slip up and go through rough patches, and it may just be that we have hit ours earlier than everyone else. However, there is likely to be a deeper reasoning behind it than that.

Amongst the media, and the general public, the stories based on the dispute between Mourinho and his medical staff seems to have subsided, but I believe that all may not be forgiven in the Chelsea dressing room. It is well known that Eva Carneiro had a very good relationship with the entire Chelsea team, no more so than the likes of Ivanovic and player of the season, Eden Hazard. These were arguably the two stand out performers for Chelsea last year, and ever since the dismissal of Eva, they have possibly been our two most disappointing players. I feel like some of the players are not playing for Mourinho, and after the way he dealt with the Eva situation, I think some of the players may not have the same faith in him they used to. His decision to temporarily dismiss her, for doing her job was ridiculous, and it is likely that the players agree. I am in no way saying Mourinho is not a great manager, he is still the best in the league, and arguably the world, but I think he needs to come out and apologise. This will get the players and fans behind him again, and will hopefully help get us back to the way we should be playing.

The international break will have done us good, and hopefully the players should come back rejuvenated and driven to get back to top form. Also, the signings of Rahman, Djilobodji and Pedro should give the whole team some much-needed competition, and eliminate any complacency within the starting line up. This will drive the players to train harder, and perform better, in order to maintain their spots in the starting line up.

Despite our worst start in over 40 years, the season is only 4 weeks old, and there are still 102 points to be contested for over 34 matches. There is definitely no need to panic yet. We still have the best manager and squad in the division, and it is only a matter of time before we get back to seeing the Chelsea we all know and love.