After three draws in a row, the English press is talking about a “crisis” at Chelsea. The two-time defending English champion is only six points behind leader Manchester United, but at a club where so much money is spent on players, Kevin McCarra of the Guardian says the axe must be expected to fall somewhere when the club doesn’t perform. At the top is Jose Mourinho, whose decision this year was to scale back the size of his core senior squad, letting subs Eidur Gudjohnsen, Damien Duff, Glenn Johnson and Asier Del Horno leave for other clubs during the offseason. Mourinho is now blaming the poor form of his star-studded side on injuries to key players, such as captain John Terry, first-choice goalkeeper Petr Cech, and wingers Joe Cole and Arjen Robben. How can Mourinho complain about a lack of depth when he has replacements like Khalid Boulharouz and Shaun-Wright Phillips, whom the club paid $13 million and $40 million for respectively? Mourinho only mentions the “disappeared of Stamford Bridge” to lambast them when it’s convenient, says McCarra. And he’s right. Chelsea’s record on the transfer market is unbelievably poor, because financial solvency means next to nothing to the club-though management can’t officially say that. How else can you explain letting Damien Duff head to Newcastle this summer for $9.5 million when other clubs would have paid nearly twice as much? Chelsea lost $23 million on that deal. Who’s to blame for that, Mourinho, CEO Peter Kenyon, or Chelsea’s billionaire owner Roman Abramovich? And do any of them care so long as Chelsea can buy its way out of trouble this January?