Liam Rosenior questions Chelsea squad after ‘indefensible’ defeat at Brighton

By Edward Elliot, Press Association

Under-fire Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior says he must identify which players he can trust after delivering a scathing assessment of his team’s woeful 3-0 Premier League defeat at Brighton.

Travelling fans turned on Rosenior on Tuesday evening as the Blues suffered a fifth straight league loss without scoring for the first time since 1912.

With hopes of Champions League qualification now extremely slim, pressure is building on the 41-year-old ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final against Leeds at Wembley.

Rosenior endured explicit chants from his own supporters during a dismal display at the Amex Stadium and, alongside his players, faced further hostility at full-time.

“I understand their frustration,” he said of the fans. “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. 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.”

Rosenior branded the south-coast performance “indefensible” after Brighton leapfrogged Chelsea into sixth spot thanks to goals from Ferdi Kadioglu, Jack Hinshelwood and Danny Welbeck.

Without injured attacking trio Cole Palmer, Estevao and Joao Pedro, the toothless Blues failed to register an attempt on target and remain seven points adrift of fifth-placed Liverpool, having played a game more.

Rosenior, who replaced Enzo Maresca in January, warned his squad they do not belong at Stamford Bridge if they cannot handle pressure and criticism.

“I’m not throwing anyone under the bus,” he said. “That was an unacceptable performance, and I’m at the head of that.

“We’re playing for Chelsea, I’m managing Chelsea, the criticism and pressure comes with the football club.

“If you can’t handle that then you shouldn’t be here. It’s as simple as that. That’s something that needs to be addressed this week but it also needs to be addressed in the long term.

“We need to make the correct decisions for the team for a massive game on Sunday and we’ll do the very best we can to turn it around.”

Rosenior outlined a lack of spirit and belief among Chelsea’s ranks but played down suggestions of a “disconnect” between him and his players.

“It’s not about playing for me; it’s about playing for the club, it’s about playing for the shirt, it’s about playing to win games of football,” he said.

“You can read anything into it that you want and whether they’re playing for me or not. The performance in itself was damning. It stood against everything I believe in.”

Blues defender Trevoh Chalobah felt the team ran “their socks off” in Sussex and urged positivity as attention turns to the FA Cup.

“It’s nothing to do with effort,” he told Sky Sports. “We gave it our all, we just got beat.

“We just have to pick ourselves up. We’ve got a semi-final to come. It’s a massive game at Wembley.

“Us being negative, us dwelling on the past is not going to help the situation.”