Jose has to end this civil war

While the futures of Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko remain in the balance, Mourinho will attempt to address the undercurrent of militancy that exists within the Chelsea dressing room.

Although the European Cup is proving elusive after their failure to beat Liverpool in Tuesday night's semi-final, Mourinho remains on safe ground after chief executive Peter Kenyon's personal address to the nation last week. Others are not as certain of their position.

Ballack's stock with senior players has never been lower after he flew to Munich last Friday to have an ankle operation without permission.

As a result, Chelsea were left in the lurch at Anfield and a statement which was intended to justify his decision simply alienated Ballack from his colleagues.

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Team-mate Wayne Bridge suffered a similar setback at the start of the season but the left back waited nearly five months before he had surgery. Ballack waited less than a week.

Mourinho wanted the German sacked when he was informed the midfielder had undergone surgery but with four years left on a contract worth £130,000 a week, the manager is unlikely to be granted his wish.

There will be few takers for a player who, by common consent, has barely lifted a leg this season — but there is a swifter exit strategy for Shevchenko.

"Our intention is to keep a big percentage of the players, but we will make two or three changes which is normal in a club like this," revealed Mourinho.

Shevchenko, along with Claude Makelele, could be two of the most high-profile casualties.

The Chelsea striker, who was dropped from the team to face Liverpool, was instructed to attend the second leg at Anfield after his failure to fly to Merseyside with the team. There are still simmering tensions with the rest of the squad.

"After talking with the medical staff on Sunday we decided I would not play," said Shevchenko.

But that does not explain why he subsequently reported to the club's training ground before the team boarded their flight.

Mourinho made a point of praising Arjen Robben, whose commitment he has questioned in the past, for his decision to play. It was clearly a message with Shevchenko in mind.

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The manager said: "Arjen has only been training a few days with us, but he said he was willing to play. The boy said: 'I can help. I can play for ten or 15 minutes'. He came to help us and tried everything to help."

Shevchenko sheepishly boarded the team bus to speak with his devastated team-mates following the penalty shoot-out defeat, but his unhappy spell in west London may be drawing to a close.

The Ukrainian international wants a return to Milan, who are expecting to complete the capture of Barcelona's Ronaldinho, and even Roman Abramovich is preparing to concede defeat.

Abramovich, who missed the biggest match of Chelsea's season because he was away on "personal business", may be losing interest in the team, but not in his favourite player.

Shevchenko believes the club's benefactor will put his welfare and happiness first and write off some of the £31million fee paid to lure him from AC Milan.

Should Shevchenko leave, it will pave the way for Mourinho to recruit Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres.

Mourinho believes he can form a match-winning partnership with Didier Drogba.

Although the days of frittering £13.2m on Paulo Ferreira, £19.85m on Ricardo Carvalho and £21m on Shaun Wright-Phillips are over, significant funds will be made available to strengthen the team.

Mourinho maintains that injuries to Petr Cech, John Terry and Joe Cole, together with Carvalho's knee complaint last weekend, are to blame for their failure to remain on course for an unprecedented quadruple. Yet the squad is running out of steam.

Mourinho said: "I cannot believe next season we will have 20 injuries and that we'll begin with surgery on the first day and end with surgery on the last day.

"It's an incredibly negative season in terms of big injuries. Not small injuries. Big injuries. In that situation, the team were magnificent.

"Next season is another year. We deserved to be in the final, but nobody will remember that Chelsea were the best team in the first game, the best team at Anfield and the best team in extra-time."

No one will forget Mourinho's abrasive approach and his comments will remain ingrained in the memories of Liverpool fans after he belittled their club's achievements.

"I don't listen to what Mourinho's says," said Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry. "I guess when you have invested £500m, it is a fantastic season to win the League Cup."