What are Chelsea's biggest problems and why?

Chelsea are a club lurching from one crisis to another and a dark cloud has hung over Stamford Bridge since the summer.

Jose Mourinho, reportedly, has this week to save his job at Stamford Bridge and a defeat to Liverpool could spell the end of the Special One's second stint in the hotseat.

Managers are always in the firing line when results take a turn for the worse but it would be churlish to suggest that Mourinho is entirely at fault for the club's situation just as it is ridiculous to blame referees, the FA, the media among other issues for the club's struggles.

We take a look at where Chelsea have gone wrong this season.

Jose Mourinho

Chelsea's most successful manager has to take his share of the blame for the club's woeful start to the season.

His man-management tactics, which have been so successful in the past appear to be falling on deaf ears now.

The Special One thrives on the 'us against the world' mentality and it has stood him and his club in good stead in the past.

But this time it is clearly not working and Mourinho is picking the wrong fights to make.

Barely a fortnight has gone by without the Blues boss causing some controversy as this brief timeline shows.

The Carneiro row was unnecessary as she had to go onto the field, as per her Hippocratic Oath and the departure of the popular doctor would rankle with the players and disrupt the good vibes at the club.

Leaving your captain in the dressing room makes a statement but there were nine other players at Manchester City who could have been withdrawn.

Mourinho does deserve sympathy with regards to how the FA treat him and Arsene Wenger as the Frenchman was very fortunate to escape punishment for shoving him last season and calling Mike Dean 'weak and naïve' in Chelsea's 2-0 win over the Gunners.

Daring Abramovich with a back me or sack me plea is a risky strategy that paid off at the time.

Hazard was the club's player of the season and Mourinho putting him down a peg or two was not needed.

The Special One needs to look in a mirror and work out the best strategy and putting a smile back on his players' faces.

That said, if Abramovich did pull the trigger, who is out there that could replace him at this current time? Carlo Ancelotti? He's been there and was sacked far too quickly. Guus Hiddink? One of the few that stuck to his guns. Pep Guardiola? Manchester City are reportedly interested. There's not a 'Chelsea' category of manager yet.

Failure to reset

Since Manchester United won three titles in a row between 2007 and 2009, no side has successfully defended the Premier League title.

Chelsea were desperate to regain a title they last won in 2010 under Carlo Ancelotti and it seemed the club were going all-out to win the league.

This situation compares with the club's quest to win the Champions League, which was Roman Abramovich's main aim since 2007.

They won in 2012 and then were promptly bundled out in next year's group stage under Roberto Di Matteo. The Blues did bounce back to win the Europa League.

Sport is now a goal-centric society – for example, the England cricket team prior to 2005 just wanted to regain the Ashes. They achieved that and slipped back quickly after. They then targeted becoming number one in the world. They reached that goal but lost the crown after a year.

This failure to start again is something that has affected Chelsea and it was shown in the transfer market.

The club failed to make the upgrades they needed to make in the summer with the signing of Pedro the only added Pedro to the squad while their remaining deals were replacing departed players.

Manchester City and Manchester United invested in the summer to improve their teams and seem to have overtaken the Blues now.

Lack of Leadership

Between 2005 and 2012, the Chelsea side had a magnificent core of players in Petr Cech, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba.

That quartet would run the dressing room and ensure high standards were maintained at all times.

All those players were in their prime and you could ensure that the club would be challenging at the top of the table each year.

Drogba was the first to leave in 2012 but returned two years later, just after Lampard left and the Ivorian left in the summer along with Cech.

That leaves Terry as the last man standing of Chelsea's core, but, he is no longer at the peak of his powers.

The players will be adjusting and jockeying for a position in the club's leadership group, with only Gary Cahill really succeeding, but currently there is a vacuum.

Players

Like Terry, some players are no longer playing at the level they were once capable of. Branislav Ivanovic is in a slump. Radamel Falcao is, seemingly, no longer the player he once was prior to his injury.

Discipline has also hampered other players with Diego Costa happily causing ructions with opposition players, leading to a three match ban.

Nemanja Matic committed two needless fouls against West Ham, leading to his dismissal as the Blues lost their heads.

Cesc Fabregas seems to have gone off the boil as has Eden Hazard, who appears to be courting Real Madrid if his Instagram activity is anything to go by.

Confidence and bad luck

Kurt Zouma was unlucky his effort didn't travel the extra millimetres to cross the line at West Ham. That's the sort of thing that would have happened last season for Chelsea that isn't this year.

Losing Thibaut Courtois to injury will have affected the club as well with Asmir Begovic providing good cover but the Bosnian doesn't have the fearsome reputation the Belgian has.

Bad results have bred bad results. Players are used to winning games and they've lost the habit of doing so.

However, even when they record a victory they've been unable to, so far, go on a winning run and build on things.

Conclusion

I've read some laughable comments regarding Chelsea's problems, namely those saying it is everything but what the club are doing but it really has been a perfect storm of issues discussed above. Some are the club's own making. Others are not.

All facets at the club from players to owner need to look at what they've done wrong over the past few months and make sure this bad run ends now and doesn't come back any time soon.