Liam Rosenior said he is learning who he can and cannot rely on after Chelsea had Wesley Fofana sent off before throwing away two points in added time in a 1-1 draw against Burnley.
The Blues had dominated once Joao Pedro put them in front in the fourth minute at Stamford Bridge, but after going down to 10 men in the second half they retreated.
A Burnley leveller looked a certainty, and it duly arrived when Zian Flemming evaded his man to head home from a corner.
Chelsea had four central defenders on the pitch at that point but none of them were anywhere near Flemming as he met James Ward-Prowse’s cross, with Rosenior saying afterwards one of his players had marked the wrong man.
It formed part of a damning verdict on a display showing alarming parallels with the failure to finish off Leeds when 2-0 up here in their last outing, while Fofana’s red card – shown for a second booking for a late tackle on Ward-Prowse – proved that the team’s disciplinary problems have not gone away.
“That wasn’t on Wesley,” said Rosenior of his team’s collapse. “That was on our performance. From the first goal, we lacked incision when we had control. I want us to create wave after wave of attacks. We were too safe in our possession.
“We knew their biggest threat with Ward-Prowse on the pitch was set plays. We went as big as we possibly could because that was the only way they could score with 10 men. We still don’t see it out.
“We’ve set fire to four points from two home games. It’s not good enough for a club of this level for me to say we were the better team.
“I’m learning about the players. I’m learning about the people you can lean on when things aren’t going your way and you need to see a game out. That’s something we need to address very quickly.”
They had started so impressively, Joao Pedro stretching every sinew on the slide to bounce Pedro Neto’s cross, albeit with his thigh, beyond Martin Dubravka amid a tangle of limbs.
Chelsea then dominated without ever really extending Dubravka, leaving the door ajar for Flemming to leave them with a familiar feeling of regret.
“We need to have players you can rely on in the moment to do their jobs,” said Rosenior. “Set plays are massive in the Premier League. Our record this season in defending set plays is not to the level required to achieve what we want.
“I know what we need to get there. It’s not down to youth. It’s down to assessing the players you can rely on in the difficult moments.”
A point for Scott Parker’s side moved them to within eight of Nottingham Forest in 17th, and it could have been even better had Jacob Bruun Larsen hit the target with a free header in the final seconds.
“A little bit frustrated to miss a massive chance at the end,” said Parker. “I couldn’t ask much more of the group.
“The players have shown a real resilience today, going a goal down so early, the level of quality we’re playing against. We grew into the game.
“Brilliant quality (from Ward-Prowse). A real set-play specialist.”
Burnley condemned the online racist abuse directed at midfielder Hannibal Mejbri after the match.
The club confirmed they had reported the incident to Instagram’s parent company, Meta, the Premier League and police.
An official statement read: “Everyone at Burnley FC is disgusted by the online racist abuse directed at Hannibal following today’s Premier League fixture.
“There is no place for this in our society and we condemn it unreservedly.
“Hannibal will receive the full backing from the Club and from the Burnley fans who we have already seen condemning the abuse. There is no room for racism.”
