Jose Mourinho has thanked Alex Ferguson for his public backing as the Chelsea manager deals with increasing pressure surrounding his position. 

The Blues boss has to contend with another crisis and further question marks about his tenure after a 1-0 home defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday night became yet another setback in Chelsea's terrible Premier League title defence.

But his former opponent Alex Ferguson was one person who is adamant that Mourinho can turn things around and publicly stated that the Portuguese coach "will find a solution".

Responding to that backing from a manager with whom he has always had a strong mutual respect - even when both were going head-to-head for trophies a decade ago - Mourinho described Ferguson as his friend and spoke of his appreciation for his "nice words":