Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior has warned his ill-disciplined players that they face the axe if they can’t get their behaviour in order after yet another red card on Sunday.
Pedro Neto was given his marching orders in the second-half as Chelsea lost to Arsenal 2-1 at the weekend, marking a ninth red card in all competitions for the Blues this season. Enzo Maresca was also shown a red card when he was manager.
The likes of Marc Cucurella, Joao Pedro and Moises Caicedo have all been given sent off at one point or another, with Chelsea now having seen more than double the number of reds than any other team in England’s top flight.
But Rosenior has made it clear he won’t stand for it any more. The Chelsea manager, who will be without Neto for his side’s crunch clash with Aston Villa this week, has called for his players to take some responsibility.
‘It needs to improve,’ he said in his pre-match press conference on Monday. ‘My job is to create a culture of accountability, where if you make a mistake it’s OK, you hold your hands up and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
‘But you have to hold your hands up to the original mistake. If I make a wrong team selection or I get something wrong, my job is to be accountable, and it’s the same for my players in that moment.’
Liam Rosenior has threatened to axe Chelsea players who cannot keep their discipline together
The Blues have had nine red cards in all competitions this season after losing 2-1 at Arsenal
The Blues have 10 Premier League games remaining this season as they look for a top five finish, which should be enough to earn a spot in next season’s Champions League.
They find themselves two short of the record for the number of red cards in a season, and, as pointed out by Daily Mail Sport’s Kieran Gill, could almost field a starting XI of players who have been sent off this term.
Neto’s dismissal came a week after team-mate Wesley Fofana was sent off in a 1-1 draw at home to Burnley.
‘You need team-mates to help but it comes down to yourself as well,’ Rosenior added. ‘Pedro has apologised to the group. We miss him for Wednesday.
‘I just need to see an improvement in the behaviour now. It’s not just Pedro.
‘People speak about dissent – we’ve had needless bookings in terms of fouls. If we are to improve and get to where we want to be, we have to make a conscious step now to make sure it doesn’t happen again.’
In terms of the overall Premier League fair play table, Chelsea are bottom again, after finishing second bottom last season under Maresca and bottom the year prior to that under the stewardship of Mauricio Pochettino.
Asked what he could do to turn things around on that front, Rosenior – who also revealed he was forced to substitute Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernandez against Arsenal over fears of the duo too seeing red, said: ‘Sometimes it’s not (using) a stick, it’s showing what the value of not having a red card is.
Pedro Neto was given his marching orders and will be suspended for the clash with Aston Villa
‘If you look at our stats when we have 11 men on the pitch, before my job here and after my job here, our percentage chance of winning goes through the roof, so that needs to be motivation in itself to make sure we stay disciplined in key moments.
‘Reacting to setbacks – sometimes a setback is giving the ball away, sometimes a setback is a referee making a decision you disagree with – in that moment you have to react positively and think of the next thing.
‘I can’t afford to go through a season every two games or every three games with a red card, it’s not possible. I need to adjust my team selection based on who’s showing those capabilities.’
