The Chelsea football club continued their baffling 2015 2016 downfall on Saturday, losing their third Premier League fixture in a row and tumbled to 16th place on the division standings table. The Blues have been broken all season, losing seven of their 12 league matches so far and only winning three of them. However, this is the first time that Chelsea suffer three Premier League losses in a row since the start of the 2015 2016 campaign-suggesting that things are only getting worse for the reigning EPL champions.
The State of Things
Chelsea have taken 11 points from the first 12 matches of the 2015 2016 season. In comparison, Manchester City and Arsenal, the two teams currently sitting in the first and second place positions, have earned 26 points apiece from their first 12 games.
This past weekend, the Blues faced a team that they should have had no trouble beating: Stoke City. Coming into this season, Chelsea had won seven of their last eight games against Stoke's Potters, across all competitions. On October 27th, that streak snapped, with the Blues losing to the Potters in a League Cup penalty shootout. Now, Chelsea have lost two in a row against Stoke City-a team that has only managed three other victories in the 2015 2016 Premier League.
Stoke City vs. Chelsea
Not that Chelsea were sitting pretty headed into their November 7th match with Stoke City. Manager Jose Mourinho had a stadium ban for the match, which was already set to be played in enemy territory, at the 
Potters' Brittania Stadium. Just about the only thing the Blues had going for them is that they had won their Champions League fixture earlier in the week, a victory against Dynamo Kyiv that seems to have, temporarily at least, save Jose Mourinho's job.
If Mourinho was worried about his job, he didn't show it. The Portuguese manager had some fun before the game, giving his soccer squad the pre-match pep-talk at the hotel and then pretending to sneak out to the truck carrying the team's kits and laundry bins. Reports say he was joking around with Chelsea's backroom staff, insisting they "smuggle" him into the stadium.
Still, even a fresh UCL triumph and a lighthearted, self-deprecating pre-game routine from Mourinho couldn't fix all of the problems that have developed with Chelsea's football team this season. The Blues played one of their better matches of the 2015 2016 campaign and thoroughly outplayed their competitors for the majority of the game. But the Blues still couldn't convert their considerable chances to score a goal.
Goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, meanwhile, continued to be a poor substitute for Thibaut Courtois (and, for that matter, Petr Cech). Begovic, who has been Chelsea's first-choice keeper since Courtois bowed out with a knee injury in early September, has struggled to make game-saving blocks this season, and Saturday's Stoke City match was no exception. The Potters only got a few scoring opportunities on Saturday-and even fewer of them were on-target shots. The football club only needed one strong effort from Marko Arnautovic, though, to take the lead and keep it.
Arnautovic scored at the 53-minute mark, which should have given the Blues plenty of time to recover and rally. But Chelsea's soccer squad haven't been doing much rallying this season, and they continued to disappoint on Saturday. Costa, Pedro, Willian, Hazard, and Remy all had chances to score during the second half but ultimately failed to equalize. Chelsea lost the match 0-1.
Jose Mourinho's Future
Since Jose Mourinho wasn't in the stadium on Saturday, he can't really be blamed for this loss. That 
reasoning could explain why the Portuguese coach is-according to news reports, at least-in no immediate danger.
Still, in a way, this game might have been proof that it's time for Jose Mourinho to be sacked. Most soccer pundits noted that, despite their loss, Chelsea played better against Stoke City on November 7th than they have for much of the 2015 2016 campaign. They kept the ball in Stoke's territory for the majority of the match and had several near-misses in the second half. As Mourinho has said several times this season, the Blues have been on a real tear of bad luck lately. But did the manager's absence on Saturday help his squad loosen up a bit?
What do you think? Are the wearers of the Chelsea jersey 2015 2016 better off without the volatile Mourinho pitch-side? Or did their inability to finish on Saturday highlight a need for more guidance in the stadium? At Soccer Box, we want to hear your thoughts! Find us on social media to talk football or watch for additional updates on Chelsea's current situation! We are active on multiple social platforms including Instagram, Tumblr, and Google +.
