Interim boss Calum McFarlane accepts Chelsea are not meeting expectations at the moment but insists the players have not ‘downed tools’.
The Blues were beaten 3-1 by a second-string Nottingham Forest side on Monday, their sixth successive Premier League defeat that left them ninth in the table. Qualification for the Champions League has all but disappeared while securing a place in any European competition requires a strong finish to the season.
Chelsea came into this campaign as world champions and with genuine ambitions of challenging for the title but it has not panned out that way with both Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior sacked during the course of a chaotic nine months.
McFarlane was parachuted in to stabilise the situation and is determined to finish on a high, starting this Saturday at Liverpool.
He said: ”We want to turn it around. We know the standards this club has set, we aren’t meeting them at the moment. The only thing we can control is how we behave and act every single day and how we work to turn that level of performance around.”
McFarlane understands Chelsea fans’ frustrations
The Chelsea fans turned on the players against Forest and McFarlane accepts the performance was not good enough.
“I completely understand the feeling. We are as disappointed and frustrated as they are,” he added. “I put it down to possibly not responding well enough to the early set-backs that we had. We need to do much better in those moments because it has happened before and it is something we will address and try and improve for the upcoming games.”
McFarlane dismissed suggestions his players have ‘downed tools’.
He said: ”I would not agree with that. The performances haven’t been good enough. We are in a really bad run at the moment. The Leeds performance was a glimmer where we thought we could build on that but we weren’t able to do that.
“I see these boys every day, every training session, every meeting and in the gym. They are in a good place to go and attack games, we just haven’t been able to translate that to the game on Monday so hopefully we can improve that on Saturday.”
Chelsea’s poor form has led to widespread criticism with Sky pundit Jamie Carragher claiming the club is “broken”, an assessment McFarlane did not agree with.
“It is Jamie’s job to give his opinion and I respect that,” he said. “That’s his job and that’s what he is there to do. I can only speak on my experience at this club and I think there are a lot of foundations for this team to have success. We are not in the best form at the moment, we are not performing the way we should be, but I do think that there are foundations there to be successful.”
Chelsea teenager Derry doing well
Monday’s dismal performance was compounded by a serious head injury suffered by Premier League debutant Jesse Derry.
The 18-year-old required oxygen on the pitch after an accidental clash with Zach Abbott and was later taken to hospital.
McFarlane revealed the forward was doing well in his recovery, stating: “I spoke to Jesse’s dad the night it happened. I spoke to the family yesterday as well. It is positive, it is really positive. I don’t have the knowledge and insights to go into massive detail but the early signs are really positive.
“It is disappointing but as long as he is healthy, that’s all that really matters. It was great to give him his debut, I worked with him in the under-21s and he has had a fantastic season.”
