Jose Mourinho feels the players who helped Chelsea to win the Premier League title last season have not been performing to their usual standards this term, but is unsure whether he should keep playing them or drop them from his starting XI.

The reigning champions have been struggling to find their best form this campaign and sit only 16th on the table following a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Southampton on Saturday.

Mourinho has attempted to turn things around by dropping high-profile names such as John Terry and Nemanja Matic over the past few weeks, but to no avail.

Meanwhile, players like Cesc Fabregas and Branislav Ivanovic have held on to their starting berths despite some underwhelming performances and Mourinho has conceded it is not easy to deal with what is, for him at least, an unprecedented collective loss of form.

"I live a situation where I know a player is good and I trust the player," Mourinho told reporters.

"I know what the player did for us in previous seasons, but he is in a very bad momentum. What do I do?

"I trust him and keep him in the team or I change him. In this moment I am doing both. Sometimes I change and sometimes I give them two or three matches.

"In this moment I feel they all accept the decisions, understand the moment and understand I can drop or keep them to give them confidence.

"But some players compared with last season are very, very different."

Thanks to the international break Mourinho has until October 17 and the visit of Aston Villa to Stamford Bridge to try and find a solution to his selection dilemma.