How Much Longer Can Jose Mourinho and Chelsea Persevere with Branislav Ivanovic?
The scoreline told no lies against Porto.
Chelsea were second best against their Champions League opponents in Estadio do Dragao, Portugal, on Tuesday, and they paid with a 2-1 defeat that leaves them third in Group G.
And similar to how the scoreline told us the story of this match, the stats confirmed everything that was wretched about Branislav Ivanovic's display.
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What has happened to the Serb this season?
Ivanovic has been woefully off the pace in all but one of his Chelsea performances this season—the anomaly coming in the 2-0 win over Arsenal—and Chelsea are paying a big price for it.
Defensively, Jose Mourinho's men are a mess, a theory supported by the fact that after just 10 games in all competitions, they have conceded 17 goals.
By comparison, it took 22 games and the first weekend of December to reach the same total last year. In 2013/14, Mourinho's first season back in charge, the record was identical—17 goals in 22 games and the first weekend of December.
We're not even out of September yet, so for Chelsea to be shipping goals the way they have been is a big problem.
From defence being the bedrock of success from which Mourinho's Chelsea have built, it's suddenly their Achilles' heel.
There are other contributing factors, but Ivanovic's form is the biggest indicator for where it's all going wrong.
The Serb was at fault for Porto's first goal on Tuesday night—allowing Yacine Brahimi to glide effortlessly past him before unleashing the shot that eventually led to Andre Andre's opener—and his inability to defend sent panic throughout the rest of the back four.
Ivanovic won just 10 per cent of his tackles against Porto, with zero aerial duels coming out in his favour. Even in attack he was a hindrance, failing to pick out a team-mate with a single cross.
It was woeful, but what's worse still is that it's been the story of his season for him.
Of those 17 goals Chelsea have conceded this term, Ivanovic has been directly involved in 11 of them through either being exposed on the flank or making a poor decision, such as we saw when Fernandinho drilled home Manchester City's third in August.
Ivanovic's shocking performances have resulted in a defence that is lopsided. Everything is focused on plugging the gaping holes being left by the right-back, and it's exposing Gary Cahill and Kurt Zouma even more.
That in turn is putting more pressure on the midfield pivot, where Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic are being overrun.
On Tuesday, wave after wave of Porto attacks flooded through the Chelsea defence. At times, the Porto players seemed to be slaloming around training-ground dummies—it was that easy.
Ivanovic's form has spread like a plague, and the anxiety at the back is incredible. Chelsea look vulnerable from every attack they have to defend.
How long can this go on for? This question is especially pertinent when managers are openly admitting they are targeting Chelsea's right side.
Swansea City and Manchester City did it in the opening two matches, and after Crystal Palace inflicted just the second defeat in 100 Premier League home matches for Mourinho, Alan Pardew said the same.
"We doubled up on him [and] it worked for us a little bit, then it didn't," Pardew explained to Bleacher Report, discussing his team's tactics to expose Ivanovic. "I don't think [Ivanovic] got much protection today.
"[It was our intention to target] that side of the pitch a little bit, yeah."
"When Pardiola is doing it... https://t.co/GRiWIOK1Dt
— Tweedy (@JTweedsPOA) September 30, 2015"
Opposition managers can see it, those on the terraces and in TV studios can, but the one man with the power to change things remains reluctant.
The theory for Mourinho's seemingly blind faith in Ivanovic is that his height and aerial strength are an added bonus to the team from set pieces.
To kill that argument, John Terry would surely be playing if that were the case. Also, in their last two outings, Chelsea have conceded two goals from corners, so Ivanovic isn't really doing much to help in that scenario, either.
With the personnel at his disposal, the solution for Mourinho is staring him blankly in the face.
Chelsea's best defensive display of the season came against Maccabi Tel-Aviv on Matchday 1 of the Champions League.
The Israelis weren't especially dangerous, but with Cesar Azpilicueta on the right and Baba Rahman on the left, it allowed Chelsea to make them even less so.
Mourinho's side had balance in defence and attack, and it meant they could play a more aggressive game to push Tel-Aviv back, playing football in their half.
With Ivanovic's weaknesses in defence and attack, Chelsea aren't capable of doing the same right now. And teams are all too aware of it.
They target him, cause that unrest and panic, which is where everything seems to start crumbling.
Without the ability of keeping clean sheets, it means even more pressure on Chelsea's attacking players to produce. Suddenly they're faced with the prospect of having to score three goals every match in order to win (Chelsea have conceded an average of 1.7 goals per game this season).
That's a burden that isn't welcome, especially when Diego Costa is not only suspended, but he has scored just twice all season. The likes of Eden Hazard aren't particularly a big goal-threat either right now.
We've seen in recent weeks how City's back-to-back Premier League defeats have shown a good run of form will get Chelsea back into contention for a shot at successfully defending their title.
If Mourinho continues to persevere with players who are disastrously out of form and showing little sign of improving, they may as well kiss that dream goodbye.
As for the Champions League, Chelsea must avoid defeat when they travel to Dynamo Kyiv on October 20. Otherwise, they'll be cut adrift in Group G, too.
Then it really will be a crisis—one Mourinho will find difficult to survive.
Before the manager becomes an unnecessary casualty in this horrible campaign, he needs to make a few of his own, starting with Ivanovic.
Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes
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