A furious Liam Rosenior accused his Chelsea players of lacking “desire, spirit and courage” and said they put in an “unacceptable and indefensible” performance as defeat to Brighton marked the club’s worst run of form in 114 years.
Rosenior said he felt “numb” and “angry” after Chelsea suffered a fifth defeat in a row in the Premier League without scoring a goal and brilliant Brighton went above them into sixth in the table with a fully deserved 3-0 win.
“That’s indefensible, that performance tonight,” Rosenior said. “The manner of the goals we conceded, the amount of duels that we lost, the lack of intensity in the team. Something needs to change drastically right now.”
Rosenior’s future is now in doubt before their crunch FA Cup semi-final against in-form rivals Leeds at Wembley on Sunday, while the defeat all but spells the end of Chelsea’s top-five hopes. Chelsea could drop into the bottom half of the table by the time of their next Premier League game.
“Chelsea have been pumped tonight, they were pathetic and are going backwards,” former striker Chris Sutton said on Sky Sports. “The Chelsea players chucked it, they really did and their players have a of of thinking to and where do they go next?”
Follow all the reaction below
Liam Rosenior turns on Chelsea players and warns ‘something has to change’
“The performance in terms of professionalism wasn’t there. It was a really, really difficult night, the most difficult night – not even here at this magnificent football club – but in my career. Some of the things I witnessed today, I don’t want to ever see again.
“If you’re playing at this elite football club, or any football club, to be even accused of throwing the towel in is unacceptable. That’s all I’m going to say. I’m hurting, I’m feeling numb. That doesn’t represent me. That doesn’t represent the football club in any way. That has to change.”
The night Chelsea’s failed experiment sunk to breaking point
It was one of those games where you’d love to focus on Brighton’s performance but, at the end of yet another chastening evening it was hard to take the eyes off the Chelsea captain. There was Enzo Fernandez, standing there mostly motionless in front of the away crowd, other than shrugging his shoulders. That he was wearing the armband only two weeks after being dropped from the first team added to the sense of farce, of a club shredded by so many bad decisions.
What was Fernandez actually doing here? What was he thinking? Maybe it was an apt image in its own bizarre way, because you can say this of the entire club right now. “A sad night for the club”, as one Chelsea insider said. Most visibly, there’s just the way they’re playing. What is Liam Rosenior trying to do?
Has Liam Rosenior turned on his players?
In his interview with Match of the Day Sports, Liam Rosenior also accused his Chelsea players of lacking “desire, spirit and courage”.
“It is accountability. I have defended the players at times when it was the correct thing but I can’t defend that performance. It doesn’t represent this football club, it doesn’t represent anything I ask from the group and that has to change.
“I feel numb I’m so angry. I always speak on what I see and that was unacceptable. The goals we conceded were unacceptable and that is something I have to hold my hands up to.
“I will look at the team, will look at individuals and I will look at a team I can trust to do the basics of football and we should not be talking about the basics of football at this level. It is something we have to adjust very quickly.
“Tonight was not [about] tactical. This was about desire, spirit, courage and I did not see enough of that tonight. Nowhere near good enough and we have to improve that.”
Liam Rosenior comes out strong after ‘unacceptable, indefensible’ Chelsea defeat
Liam Rosenior said he is “numb” after the manner of Chelsea’s defeat. He called it “unacceptable”, “indefensible”, and said “something has to change”.
He told Sky Sports: “It was unacceptable in every aspect of the game. I keep coming out and defending the players, that was indefensible, that performance tonight. The manner of the goals we conceded, the duels that we lost. Something has to change drastically right here, right now.
“We need to look in the mirror. I need to look in the mirror. But I can’t keep coming out here and defending some of the things that we’re seeing. Manchester United, genuinely result wasn’t there but I felt we turned a corner.
“But the general attitude, spirit was lacking – determination from three or four of the starting eleven. That’s nowhere near enough for this club. I can’t come out and lie. I tell the truth. That was an unacceptable performance at every level.”
Chelsea fail to land a punch
Chelsea have failed to score a Premier League goal in almost eight hours.
They didn’t even manage to have a shot on target tonight.
Brighton had nine. They dominated every department.
Where do Chelsea go next?
It’s a FA Cup semi-final against Leeds United on Sunday at Wembley. Leeds have won back-to-back games and will be full of confidence. Chelsea had no fight, no spirit, no ideas tonight. Leeds will be up for it, that’s for sure.
Does Rosenior even get to Sunday?
Chelsea’s 114-year low: Five defeats in a row without scoring
L: Brighton (a) – 0-3
L: Man Utd (h) – 0-1
L: Man City (h) – 0-3
L: Everton (a) – 0-3
L: Newcastle (h) – 0-1
FULL TIME! Brighton 3-0 Chelsea
Former Chelsea striker Chris Sutton, on Sky Sports: “Chelsea have been pumped tonight, they were pathetic and are going backwards. The Chelsea players chucked it, they really did and their players have a of of thinking to and where do they go next?”
FULL TIME! Brighton 3-0 Chelsea
The Chelsea players are standing like statues in front of the few away fans who have stayed at the Amex. They look stunned. The away fans who have remained are telling them just how they feel.
Chelsea have lost five top-flight games in a row without scoring for the first time since 1912.
114 years!
