Carragher rips into ‘broken’ Blues as ‘lazy’ culprit ‘sums up’ crisis
Jamie Carragher insists there is “no connection” between anyone at Chelsea as he picked out one moment in the defeat to Nottingham Forest to “sum up” the Stamford Bridge mess.
Having sacked Liam Rosenior after just 106 days in chargeChelsea enjoyed respite from their crisis through an impressive 1-0 win over Leeds in the FA Cup semi-final last weekendbut returned to the doldrums on Monday afternoon.
Vitor Pereira made eight changes to his starting lineup with an eye on the second leg of their Europa League semi-final against Aston Villa on Thursday but the second-string visitors raced into a two-goal lead within 15 minutes.
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Taiwo Awoniyi scored with a header from a Dilane Bakwa cross and Igor Jesus converted a penalty after Malo Gusto blatantly tugged Awoniyi’s shirt in the box.
Cole Palmer missed a penalty at the end of the first half but Morgan Gibbs-White came on at half-time and secured all three points with a sublime assist for Awoniyi, who had the simplest of tasks to tap in at the back post.
The win lifts Forest six points above the relegation zone and will surely mean they’ve secured Premier League football again next season.
Chelsea meanwhile have now suffered six Premier League defeats on the bounce for the first time since 1993 and if it hadn’t been for an outstanding stoppage-time overhead kick from Joao Pedro they also would have gone six without scoring a goal.
It was quite the comedown from the high of securing a spot in the FA Cup final against Manchester City, and Carragher insisted they look like a “broken football club”.
“There is five or six really top players at Chelsea and they have been beaten by Nottingham Forest’s B team. Less than 12 months ago, they took PSG to the cleaners (in the Club World Cup Final),” he said on Sky Sports.
“There is no connection between the players and the staff, or players and supporters.
“In one way it’s a good thing because it shows us that football isn’t just about spending money and buying players, it’s about creating some togetherness. There is absolutely nothing there. They look like a broken football club right now.”
At half-time the pundit picked out Gusto’s shirt pull on Awoniyi as the moment to sum Chelsea up.
“This goal sums up Chelsea,” he added. “It’s sloppy, lazy, it’s a lack of discipline – and that’s not just today but across the season with the red cards they’ve had.
“You think of the team they’ve got on the pitch here compared to Nottingham Forest, they shouldn’t be 2-0 down.”
