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 in a brutal public takedown of his own team.
‘That was unacceptable in every aspect of the game,’ he told Sky Sports.
‘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
‘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.
‘We need to look in the mirror. 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 eleven. 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.’
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.
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’.
The club’s co-owner, Beghad Eghbali, was in the stands to witness the capitulation on the south coast.
‘I’m hurting and I feel numb,’ Rosenior 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.’
