Liam Rosenior described Chelsea’s 3-0 loss to Everton on Saturday night as “the most disappointing night ever” as the team suffered a fourth straight defeat.
Beto’s two goals and Iliman Ndiay’s three goals brought the Toffees within two points of Chelsea, who missed out on a chance to advance to the top four and remained in sixth place.
For Beto’s second goal, Robert Sanchez was held responsible for making a sloppy mistake early on and allowing the team to escape goalless.
The defeat came four days after Chelsea were eliminated from the Champions League after losing 8-2 on aggregate to PSG.
“It was the most disappointing night we’ve ever talked about. We had to not concede goals, we had to make sure we were in the game, we had to control the game. We weren’t able to do that, and the result and the performance were far from what we expected and what we wanted, so it was a really, really difficult night,” Rosenior said.
The Chelsea manager admitted to Sky Sports that he was still learning, but sought to offer some perspective. “I’m learning about this club. It’s a huge club. There was understandably a lot of noise, a lot of negative noise with our performance last week.
“As a group we have played 10 games in the league. We have 17 points. I think we are fourth in my time. So we have to forget the hustle and bustle. We have to remain confident and calm.”
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In a subsequent press conference, Rosenior dismissed the idea that his team’s tactics were the problem. “It’s not a tactical thing,” he said.
“I always want to protect my players. I always will. I take responsibility for that lack of concentration. But that’s the reality. It’s happened so many times in my recent time that I can’t tell you the truth.”
He explained: “For me, we were often in the final third. We started with an edge in terms of the cheap perks we gave, but then we managed to take control of the game and get into the opposition’s half, arrive and create some unexpected moments. We just weren’t clinical enough. Then it felt like out of nowhere, out of nowhere, they scored a goal. It’s not the first time it’s happened.”
“What happens in football is if you’re conceding a goal in a difficult game against a big team, the energy level and the confidence level can drop if the other team scores first. That’s what happened. (Jordan) Pickford made a world-class save in the 1-0 win.
“Then we came out in the second half and were able to control the game. Then we made a mistake and they’re up 2-0. That gives them more energy. The important thing is flow and momentum. We didn’t have that in today’s game.”
When asked if the players were working hard, Coach Rosenior said, “I don’t think there’s a lack of effort. I don’t think the team lacks belief or determination.”
“I know that when you’re losing as much as we are, when you’re performing as well as we have, that kind of thing gets thrown at you, but I don’t think it’s an issue at the moment.”
Another theory that has been floated is that the players are feeling the effects of a long season in which they competed in the Club World Cup in the United States over the summer.
“I don’t want to do anything I don’t want to do, I don’t want people to think I’m making excuses. It wasn’t enough. Last week it wasn’t enough.
“If you’re a logical thinker and you look at the amount of work the players have done and the amount of games they’ve played, I think you’ll come to a very simple conclusion.”
Liam Rosenior and Chelsea players lost to Everton
Rosenia: It hurts.
Whether Chelsea supporters accept that is another matter, given that Chelsea have only won one of their last six Premier League games.
“They’re paying money, they love this club and they’ve come a long way. It’s a disappointing time for the club at the moment, given the way we lost in the Champions League and the way we lost the last two games.”
“My job is to take this time to look at the big picture in terms of moving forward, even though it hurts to lose a football game, regardless of your position.
“We are one point away from the Champions League places. We have to keep working like this. We have to keep giving the players as much confidence as possible and hopefully this suspension of games will be a really, really good moment for us.”
