After team's 1-0 loss to Manchester City, Chelsea's Kepa Arrizabalaga and Marc Cucurella received harsh criticism from Liverpool great Jamie Carragher. After tonight's defeat, the Blues have won just one of their last eight league games, drawn three, and lost four.
Pep Guardiola's team got all three points in the 63rd minute with the help of Riyad Mahrez.
After Jack Grealish's clever cross, the Algerian volleyed in at the back post and scored from close range.
The goal, nevertheless, was the result of shaky defending by Graham Potter's team, especially Cukurella.
Chelsea's Kepa Arrizabalaga was similarly hesitant in his efforts to keep Grealish's cross from going past him and into the path of Mahrez.
He was providing post-match coverage for Sky Sports when Carragher questioned Kepa's goalkeeping for the goal.
He said: "Can the goalkeeper do more? I think he can. I'm pretty certain he could've done more. Man City have deserved that off the second half performance."
Cucurella's performance was then criticised by Carragher, who asserted that the Spaniard is unwilling to defend: "I've been questioning Cucurella in this second-half. He doesn't want to defend. Certainly 1 vs 1. We've seen that three or four times. Whether he stopped his run, because sometimes you're wary of playing someone onside."
Chelsea is currently ranked tenth in the Premier League standings, 10 points behind fourth-place Manchester United.
The distance between second-placed City and the league's top team, Arsenal, has been reduced to four points.
After a terrible performance against City, Chelsea striker Pierre-Emerick Aubemayang issued a warning that he might not play again.
Raheem Sterling's hamstring injury necessitated the substitution of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the fifth minute of Chelsea's loss to City.
However, the Gabonese attacker had little to no effect and was replaced in the 68th minute by the youngster Omari Hutchinson.
After his performance against City, Premier League legend Chris Sutton has cautioned Aubameyang that he might never play again.
He told when BBC asked: "Aubameyang looked like he didn't want to be here this evening."
Sutton continued by asking if Potter was considering Aubameyang's future with the team in light of his subpar performance: "I wonder whether Graham Potter is thinking, how can I play Aubameyang again in a Chelsea jersey after how woeful he was. I'm always wary to criticise players for lack of effort or poor body language but Aubameyang absolutely epitomised that."
For £10 million, Aubameyang moved from Barcelona to the Blues in the summer. In 16 appearances in different tournaments, he has only managed to score three goals.
0 Comments