Former Chelsea midfielder Craig Burley has slammed four Chelsea players following Chelsea’s second consecutive away defeat in the Premier League this season. The first away defeat came against Leeds United at Elland Road.
Chelsea is now eighth on the Premier League table with seven points, five points shy of leaders Arsenal with a game in hand. The blues have conceded seven goals in the Premier League this season.
The former Chelsea midfielder was not impressed with Chelsea attackers especially Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech, and Christian Pulisic. The Scottish international also added that he is afraid Kai Havertz could end up like Timo Werner.
What did Craig Burley say?
Analyzing the performance of Chelsea after the 2-1 defeat to Southampton, The former Scottish midfielder said on ESPN: “Listen, with Kai Havertz, I’ve said it before… it’s all very well playing well in the Champions League, scoring in the final, that’s great for him, but there are 50 games in a season.
“Timo Werner’s gone back and scored a hat-trick in Germany, that tells you all you need to know. He couldn’t cut it in England and Havertz is the same.
“Mount’s not playing well. They’ll all be crying about Pulisic after that. It’s up to these players to do it.
“Ziyech, he’s lightweight. When he came in under [former manager Frank] Lampard we were all worried because he looked injury-prone and weak.
“These players are all worth millions. The manager needs to sort it out.”
Mason Mount looks a pale shadow of himself this season.
Craig Burley also slammed unacceptable Chelsea performance against Southampton, saying: “They were poor and it wasn’t surprising. Yes, they beat Leicester at the weekend but again, away from home, they’re poor.
“They took the lead against a team a lot of people are tipping for relegation. None of Southampton’s players would get near the Chelsea team.
“It’s another unacceptable performance. It’s unacceptable. I know they’ve got one or two out [injured] but so what? It just wasn’t good enough. And it’s not an anomaly.
“Look at the performance at Leeds. They scrapped a win at Everton. I’m sorry, we’re trying to find excuses here but it’s not good enough.”
Meanwhile, Chelsea legend Joe Cole claims this is the worst Chelsea performance he has seen under Thomas Tuchel.
The former England international said on BT sport after the game, saying: “Chelsea just ran out of steam, they didn’t have any answers. After the first 20 minutes, they looked a bit off it, there were plenty of unforced errors.
“Tuchel has got a lot of questions he’s going to have to answer on that journey back to London. It was as poor a performance as I’ve seen from Chelsea under him.
“I can’t remember them having a chance in the second half. It was a very disappointing night for Chelsea.
“They face West Ham this weekend and it’s a must-win game now because you can’t lose three of your first six games and think about getting into the Champions League.
“It’s a tough period for the club. Tuchel has problems, he’s definitely got problems.”