An angry Liam Rosenior blasted the attitude of his Chelsea players after an ‘unacceptable and indefensible’ performance at Brighton condemned the Blues to a fifth straight Premier League defeat.
The Seagulls ran out comfortable 3-0 winners to pile the pressure on Rosenior as Chelsea’s miserable run of form continued.
The Blues have now lost five matches in a row without scoring for the first time in 114 years, leaving their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League in tatters.
And Rosenior did not hold back after the match as he warned ‘drastic’ changes were needed, told his players they needed to ‘look in the mirror’ and accused them of lacking professionalism in a brutal public takedown of his own team.
‘That was unacceptable in every aspect of the game,’ he said. ‘I’m hurting and I feel numb.
‘The attitude was unacceptable. I keep coming out and defending the players but that performance tonight is indefensible.
Liam Rosenior blasted his players for an ‘unacceptable and indefensible’ display at Brighton
Chelsea suffered their fifth straight Premier League defeat after a dismal 3-0 loss
‘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 here right now.
‘I am accountable, I’ve always said that, but after tonight, I think the players as well need to have a look in the mirror for what they put in. You can talk about tactics, tactics come after the basics.
‘I can’t keep coming out here and defending some of the things that we are seeing.
‘Against Manchester United, the results weren’t there but I felt like we’d turned a corner but the general attitude, spirit and determination was lacking, apart from maybe three or four of the 11. That is nowhere near enough for this club.
‘It’s nowhere near enough. I can’t come out and lie. I’ll come out and tell the truth and that was unacceptable in every area.’
Rosenior accused his players of lacking ‘courage’ in conceding the first goal at Brighton, scored by Ferdi Kadioglu just three minutes in.
He added: ‘We can speak about a lack of confidence or results not going our way but that does not represent anything that I want to see and I won’t ever see it again.
‘The performance in terms of professionalism wasn’t there. It was a really, really difficult night – the most difficult night so far [for me] at this magnificent football club but also in my career because some of the things I was witnessing today I never want to see again.’
The dreadful performance and the sight of Moises Caicedo jogging back for Brighton’s second goal led to Rosenior being asked whether he still has the faith of the players in the dressing room.
‘It’s not about playing for me,’ the 41-year-old added. ‘It’s about playing for the club. It’s about playing for the shirt. It’s about playing to win games of football. I can speak on what I saw tonight. You can read anything into it that you want, whether they’re playing for me or not, but that performance in itself was damning. It stood against what I believe in.
‘We’ll find out (if the players can take that criticism). I haven’t criticised them up till now. I’ve defended them. They’ve deserved that. But I will tell the truth. I always come out here and tell the truth. And I blame myself as well. It’s not just blaming the players. I’m part of that process.’
Rosenior’s struggling side dropped to seventh following the defeat at Brighton, which came three days after a 1-0 home loss to Man United.
Rosenior appeared to offer an apology to the travelling Chelsea fans, many of whom had left
Chelsea are now seven points behind fifth-placed Liverpool in the race for the Champions League and have just four matches remaining.
Furious Blues fans made clear their feelings towards the head coach during the Brighton game, with large sections of the away end telling him to ‘f*** off’.
‘I understand the fans’ frustration,’ said Rosenior. ‘It’s my job as the head coach and the manager of the football club. The buck stops with me. I have thick skin and I understand why the fans are frustrated. I’m frustrated with the performances we’re putting in.
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‘I’ve just got to keep working hard with the staff, with the players. But what I do need to do is really look at how we go about games, the personnel of the team, who I can trust and rely on in difficult moments, because not enough players showed that today in the game.’
The club’s co-owner, Beghad Eghbali, was in the stands to witness the capitulation on the south coast.
Rosenior must now pick his players up – if he remains in charge – for the FA Cup semi-final clash with Leeds at Wembley on Sunday.
‘I will look at the team, I will look at individuals and I will look at a team I can trust to do the basics of football,’ he said.
‘That doesn’t represent me and it doesn’t represent the football club in any way and that has to change starting with the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday.
‘Chelsea represents fight, spirit and determination, and that was lacking in every department this evening.
‘On Sunday, I will pick a team that will represent the club in the correct manner.’
