According to Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher, Chelsea look like a broken club.
The Blues were booed by fans at Stamford Bridge after Premier League relegation battlers Nottingham Forest’s heavily rotated side suffered their sixth successive league defeat to Chelsea.
The 3-1 result was shocking given that Forest manager Vitor Pereira had made eight changes to his squad for Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg against Aston Villa.
But Chelsea, who won the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley last time out, appeared to have broken away from the dismal form that cost Liam Rosenior his job, but they were behind at the 97-second mark, trailing by two after 15 minutes and conceding a third just seven minutes after half-time. Joao Pedro’s stoppage time overhead was just a consolation.
Chelsea, managed by inexperienced caretaker manager Callum McFarlane, sit ninth in the Premier League, 10 points adrift of fifth-placed Villa in the final Champions League spot, a place they are out of reach with three games remaining.
Even if Unai Emery’s side win the Villa Europa League and finish fifth, Champions League football could still offer a side that finished sixth in the Premier League. Chelsea are currently four points behind sixth-placed Bournemouth, but there are serious doubts about their ability to secure European football for next season.
“It’s shocking and it comes from the top,” Mr Carragher said.
“There were five or six really top-class players on the pitch today and they lost to Nottingham Forest’s B team.
“In less than 12 months they were taking PSG to the cleaners.
“There is no connection between players and staff, players and fans.
“In a way, this is a good thing because it shows you that football is not all about spending money, buying players and buying this revolving door.
“It’s important to create unity and there’s nothing there. They’re like a broken football club right now.”
Carragher elaborated further on Monday Night Football, saying: “If you’re going to spend that kind of money[on players]they should be challenging for league games and narrowly getting into the latter stages of the Champions League.”
“We’re talking about teams that have won twice in the last 15 or 20 years, so they’re not the little guys, they’re the big clubs in European football.
“I said a few years ago that players should stop signing with Chelsea. I still support that, but it’s not about individual players, I think I have something against Chelsea.”
“What I’m saying is if we keep buying and selling players, we’ll never build a bond as a team. We have to get through things together.”
“They buy two wingers every year, but how do the two they bought the year before feel? You can’t just come into a club and be a great player. You have to build something and grow as a group with the manager and the players. It’s a continuous conveyor belt.”
“If I was a young player, why would I sign for Chelsea? They would give me 12 months and if I wasn’t great, they would sign another player.
“How do you create a connection between players, fans and staff? There’s no such thing.”
McFarlane: “First 15 minutes are unacceptable”
Cole Palmer of Chelsea in defeat to Nottingham Forest
Chelsea caretaker manager Callum MacFarlane described his team’s first 15 minutes as “unacceptable”. It’s the same word Rosenior used to describe his last Premier League performance, a 3-0 defeat to Brighton that cost him his job.
“I was really disappointed with the performance and disappointed with the result. I don’t think today we were able to reach the level that we knew we could do,” he said.
“I thought for the first 15 minutes we weren’t quite at the level we needed to be, the early goal was a bit of a punch and we never really looked like we recovered from that moment.
“It was 3-on-1 at the back post. We know they like to cross to the back post and we know the No. 9 likes to peel to the back post. We have to defend those moments better. It’s a real shame. I thought we defended those moments really well against Leeds at Wembley, but I don’t think we bounced back from that moment enough.”
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Taiwo Awonih puts Nottingham Forest ahead in the Premier League match against Chelsea
“When we bounced back and had chances, Enzo hit the post, Cole missed the penalty, Joao scored offside… when you start that bad you need moments like that to give the game a chance to fight back.
“The first 15 minutes were unacceptable.”
However, MacFarlane added that he remains optimistic that the team can still finish the season on a strong note.
“I know the group, I’ve known them for a while, and they’re motivated, they want what’s best for themselves, they want what’s best for this club. We’re going to do everything we can to win every game we can from now until the end of the season,” he said.
