Gary Neville has singled out four Chelsea players for criticism for their decisions during the Blues’ 3-1 defeat by Manchester City.
The side’s difficult run of form continued on Saturday as they went down against the defending Premier League champions, putting their Champions League qualification hopes into doubt as they slipped out of the top five.
Having enjoyed an impressive start to the season which saw some brand them title contenders, Enzo Maresca‘s men have won just once in their last seven matches and were second best at the Etihad too.
After taking the lead early on through Noni Madueke, Josko Gvardiol, Erling Haaland and Phil Foden all netted to give City, who themselves are starting to hit form again, the win.
When Madueke scored, it looked as though the visitors could have put the game out of sight with new City signing Abdukodir Khusanov struggling at centre back. That, though, didn’t happen, and they went onto lose the game.
Neville, speaking on The Gary Neville Podcast, criticised Chelsea for their efforts early on in the game, and suggested that four players in particular should have led the revolt in the opening stages.
Gary Neville has taken aim at four Chelsea players for failing to adapt against Manchester City
He questioned why the likes of Enzo Fernandez (pictured) didn’t trigger a change in approach
The pundit claimed he would have ‘smelt’ the issue and adapted to the game state
‘The reason I’m going to be hard on Chelsea is I think there is a lot of talent out on that pitch and they’ve had a really good season,’ he began. ‘They are ahead of teams in terms of talent, like Newcastle, Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth.
‘I never thought they could win the league this year, so I’m not expecting them to win every match, but I was frustrated on two fronts. One – and I felt like this when I said billion pound bottle jobs, I felt as though they showed something – in the first 10 minutes of this match they showed something.
‘They could have gone 2-0 up, but I mentioned players being programmed like robots. If you concede, score, if you can see another team is vulnerable or sense a nervousness in the ground, you have to be able to adapt.
‘There is some experience out there. (Moises) Caicedo, (Enzo) Fernandez I’m looking at in particular and even Cole Palmer now, what he’s done in the last 18 months. Reece James. I’m looking at those four in particular thinking, “You must have sensed that at that point in the game, the kid at right centre back, (Metheus) Nunes at right back, the midfield that can’t really run, you had to go for the jugular”.
‘I said it at the time, and they missed a real opportunity because they were programmed before the game to play a certain way. They couldn’t switch to go full press. The game had changed. I feel like I would have smelt that at United if I was there.
‘You had to carry on attacking the left-hand side. They let them off the hook. That’s down to a mentality.’
The opening goal of the match came via an error from Khusanov, who had tried to head back to Ederson before Nicolas Jackson pounced to tee up Madueke.
He was then booked just minutes later for a foul on Palmer, with City struggling having capitulated against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League just days earlier.
They did, however, recover, to continue their return to form in the Premier League and move up to fourth in the table.
Moises Caicedo, who has been impressive so far this season, was called into question
New City signing Abdukodir Khusanov was struggling early on having given away the opener
Enzo Maresca, meanwhile, has hinted that No 1 goalkeeper Robert Sanchez could be dropped
Haaland’s goal, meanwhile, came from Robert Sanchez’s latest error, with the Blues goalkeeper rushing out of his goal before being lobbed from distance by the forward.
It was his fifth error leading to a goal this season, the most of any Premier League player, and Blues boss Enzo Maresca hinted after the game that he could soon change goalkeeper.
‘We trust Robert for sure but in the same moment he is aware that he is making mistakes,’ Maresca said.
‘We continue to trust Robert but we have an entire week, see the reaction and decide for the next games.’
