Positive Signs for Chelsea, but Blues Betrayed by Lack of Belief in Attack

Chelsea's dismal season continues.

A narrow 1-0 defeat to Stoke City on Saturday leaves the Premier League champions languishing in 16th in the table.

It's unprecedented—for Jose Mourinho, for champions and for Roman Abramovich's Chelsea.

Rather than lamenting another loss over the international break, Mourinho should take solace from this game.

Yes, it's another three points dropped; yes, Chelsea remain the Premier League's punchline. But things are hinting at getting better.

If their position in the table shows just how bad Chelsea have been in 2015/16, the statistics from the Britannia Stadium show how good they were against Stoke.

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The stats tell us Mourinho and his players are edging closer to solving this crisis.

Indeed, they should have taken the first step to doing that against Stoke given how dominant they were.

The most important stat of the night was the scoreline, and Stoke came out on top there. Beyond that, they were second best. Significantly.

Chelsea had 19 shots on goal to Stoke's eight, commanding 63 per cent of the possession. They dominated the territory and won nine corners as they turned the screw in search of victory.

Mourinho's men created more chances, supplied more crosses and peppered Jack Butland's goal for much of the evening. They just couldn't find the back of the net, but that will only come with time.

The message from Mourinho to his players should be to carry on as they did at the Britannia. They've been hinting at turning the corner, and their Stoke showing was the biggest sign yet.

	Stoke	Chelsea
Possession	37%	63%
Shots on goal (on target)	8 (2)	19 (4)
Chances created	7	11
Crosses	13	18
Takes on	20	24
Interceptions	16	11
Blocks	18	8
Clearances	23	10
Fouls	13	10

We've heard the rumours about dressing-room unrest and that the manager could lose his job. Thus far, nothing has been proved, although Saturday showed us the one truth in it all: belief is Chelsea's Achilles heel.

A team that dominates the way Chelsea did against Stoke isn't a team that's split—it isn't a team that's fallen out of love with its manager.

A team that creates the chances Chelsea did is one whose sparkle still remains. One that fails to score from 19 attempts, however, is a team lacking belief.

It seems ludicrous Chelsea face this crisis of confidence right now. They're the Premier League champions, boasting a squad of winners.

Since Manchester City capitalised to deal them some heavy blows in August, they've been on the ropes. Chelsea have been stumbling from game to game fearing the worst.

Few want to take responsibility when it matters most, and their opponents are thriving on it. We saw that in the Potteries, where indecision in the final third proved fatal.

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When Diego Costa linked up with Pedro Rodriguez midway through the first half, a confident striker wouldn't have given Butland a chance to save with his leg; a composed Ramires would have been better positioned to strike a Willian lay off rather than snatch at it.

When free in the box after the break, a self-assured Eden Hazard would have done better than watch his tame effort trickle wide; Oscar would have shown more conviction with the shot he drove straight at the 'keeper in the 90th minute.

It's not just in front of goal where that lack of belief continues to haunt Chelsea. Players are are taking too many touches as they're not comfortable getting the ball under control; there are too many heavy passes and players aren't opening up their bodies.

Chelsea have been punch-drunk. The dizzy stars have been circling, although those chances created at the Britannia tell us they're close to getting their performance back to the levels we expect.

That's not going to come until they restore belief, though.

Forget the threats of more stadium bans and his job security, that's Mourinho's biggest challenge right now. He needs to rediscover his Midas touch to get these players believing in their ability again.

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From tentative predators, Mourinho needs to transform Chelsea's stars back into the killers of last season.

We know he can do it; he did it for Chelsea over a decade ago when Claudio Ranieri's also-rans became champions under him.

Mourinho transformed Frank Lampard into the club's all-time leading goalscorer; he made John Terry an England captain.

In more recent times, he's made Hazard clinical in front of goal, turning the Belgian's potential into Player of the Year material.

Now he must squeeze the same sort of juice out of this much-maligned crop when they need it most.

Chelsea should have won against Stoke, but it was down to their own shortcomings they didn't. Before Marko Arnautovic's acrobatic winner, the Blues should have been out of sight.

Restore that belief and the tables will turn.

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes