Liam Rosenior called out his players as Chelsea suffered an embarrassing 3-0 defeat away at Brighton, branding their performance as “unacceptable” and “indefensible”.
Chelsea were outclassed on Tuesday night with goals from Ferdi Kadioglu, Jack Hinshelwood and Danny Welbeck, giving Brighton all three points. The London club have now lost five league matches in a row without scoring for the first time since 1912.
Angry fans turned on Rosenior during the game and the former Strasbourg chief was vocal with his frustration in a scathing post-match interview.
Liam Rosenior and Chelsea players after the defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
When asked if that was the worst performance of their poor run of form, Rosenior replied: “By far. That was unacceptable in every aspect. Unacceptable in terms of the attitude. I keep coming out and defending the players [but] that performance tonight was indefensible. Something needs to change drastically here right now.
When he was asked why he felt the players were so poor, Rosenior added: ” We need to look in the mirror. I need to look in the mirror. I can’t keep coming out here [and] defending some of the things that we’re seeing.
“At Manchester United, genuinely the result wasn’t there, [but] I felt we’d turned a corner. But the general attitude [and] spirit was lacking [tonight]. Maybe three or four out of the 11 [performed] – that’s nowhere near enough for this club. That’s nowhere near enough. I can’t come out and lie, I’ll tell the truth. That was an unacceptable performance in every area.”
He continued: “It’s a really, really difficult night. The most difficult night, not even [just] here at this magnificent football club, but in my career. Some of the things I was witnessing today, I never want to see ever again.
“To be even accused of throwing the towel in, it’s unacceptable. That’s all I’m gonna say. I’m hurting. That doesn’t represent me. That doesn’t represent the football club in any way and that has to change, starting with the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday.”
Chelsea are now seven points off fifth-placed Liverpool and facing an uphill battle to qualify for the Champions League.
