After the drastic statement, the dismal outcome. That is the way it is going for Jose Mourinho. After he wielded the axe, Porto chopped Chelsea down.
Mourinho's allies are proving unreliable. His old club ensured his return to Portugal was a miserable affair. His current charges keep letting him down. Chelsea, a byword for consistency, reliability and efficiency, have become disjointed, flawed and erratic.
He discovered it is easier to change the team than to change their fortunes. Mourinho's patience was exhausted. He took a hatchet to his title-winning team. Yet after 90, increasingly traumatic, minutes in his homeland, it looked like an act of desperation. He did not seem a manager with a masterplan.
He ended up having to reverse his earlier decisions. An hour without Eden Hazard only underlined Chelsea's reliance on the Belgian. Seventy minutes without Nemanja Matic showed the Serb remains their best enforcer. Perhaps, should this spur either to return to last year's form, this team selection will reap a long-term benefit but it was an odd game to pick to send a message. As Porto won 2-1, his tinkering backfired.
But it was not a question of if Mourinho would be ruthless but when. A serial winner is unaccustomed to being 15th in the Premier League. He is not used to giving his team "minus one out of 10", as he did for their first-half display against Newcastle. But then that is not the only negative number for a side with an adverse goal difference and one that has been on the wrong side of too many scorelines this season.
So the reigning Footballer of the Year, Hazard, and the Premier League's outstanding defensive midfielder last season, Matic, were benched. Oscar, Loic Remy and Radamel Falcao were nowhere to be seen. There was no happy homecoming for the Colombian, so prolific in Porto's colours.
Perhaps Chelsea's problems began the day they agreed to borrow him. An inability to recognise Falcao was a busted flush was a rare error. Mourinho is the sort of manager who sniffs frailties, yet evidence of the Colombian's sharp decline seemed to elude him. It was a decision that seemed to set the tone for Chelsea's slide. It is hard to plausibly claim they would have fared better in Porto with the failing Falcao. They were better off with a 37-year-old Didier Drogba as a back-up striker.
As it was, they were grateful to a second-choice goalkeeper, Asmir Begovic, for averting a heavier defeat. Diego Costa struck the bar, but there were problems elsewhere in the spine of the side. A back four again assembled without John Terry lacked leadership. The two goals were two defensive disasters.
Minus Matic, he chose Ramires and John Obi Mikel. Both were part of the team who engineered the miracle at the Nou Camp in 2012, but they scarcely look a midfield duo to frighten Europe's finest now. Mourinho may have looked for solidity when selecting the two workhorses, but Chelsea were breached twice and run ragged. Ruben Loftus-Cheek might have been a better bet.
On the flanks, there was plenty of flair, but from Porto's Yacine Brahimi. Mourinho swapped Pedro to the left to stand in for Hazard but ended up substituting the World Cup winner. He could have put Chelsea ahead but directed his shot too close to his Spain team-mate Iker Casillas. He, too, could have an anxious wait to see if he makes the starting XI against Southampton on Saturday. Very few are safe.
Nine years Mourinho had nine untouchables. He said so himself, pointedly omitting Andriy Shevchenko from the list. Four months ago, he seemed to have seven or eight. And now? Gary Cahill and, more often, Terry had already been dropped, even before Matic and Hazard were benched. It may only be a matter of time before Branislav Ivanovic, who was tormented by the brilliant Brahimi, is omitted. If anyone looked undroppable at Chelsea this season, it was Cesar Azpilicueta but even the unflashy Spaniard perhaps could have done better when Andre Andre scored. He still might be their best option in both full-back positions.
And even when Chelsea did something right, it highlighted that much else is wrong. Willian scored his third goal of the season, all from free-kicks, but this was the first when he was definitely shooting. He is Chelsea's unlikely top scorer. That could be interpreted as an achievement by the Brazilian. In reality, it is an indictment of Hazard, Falcao, Costa and co.
Mourinho had previewed the game by questioning his side's motivation, desire and commitment. The answers he received were unsatisfactory. But if his gamble failed, it was a sign he seems to have mislaid his Midas touch.
Chelsea only lost four of their 54 games last season. They have lost five of 11 this. It is uncharted territory for Mourinho. It is back to the drawing board for him or, more precisely, the tactics board. And there are few players who demand automatic inclusion. Players who looked unstoppable are now all too droppable.
