Mauricio Pochettino says his Chelsea side “gave up” during their damaging 5-0 defeat by Arsenal at Emirates stadium.
Having gone into half-time 1-0 down, the Blues conceded four goals during a devastating 18-minute spell in the second half as they fell to their heaviest defeat in a London derby since 1986.
Pochettino had made three changes to his defence for the game, opting to rest Trevoh Chalobah and Thiago Silva, while Malo Gusto sustained an injury during Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester City.
“It’s not difficult to explain,” said Pochettino. “Everyone saw we didn’t compete from the beginning of the game.
The team was very weak after conceding the goal.I’m very disappointed with the start, because we gave all our energy and were expected to keep up better.”
“We were aggressive. I wasn’t focused on the easy situation.” Find a solution. That’s why it’s such a shame.”
Chelsea went into the game unbeaten in eight Premier League games and had little chance of qualifying for next season’s Europe.
However, Tuesday’s biggest loss of the season left them ninth in the standings.
“At half-time we talked about starting differently,” Pochettino added. “But we didn’t achieve that. When we conceded the third goal, the team conceded. It was difficult for her.
“We did really well against Manchester City. A great game. was.” But three days later we still didn’t show up. Maybe we weren’t fresh.
“It’s not fair to talk about the players we’re missing. We’ve been missing a lot of players every week since the season started.
“The team showed a lack of resilience, and that’s the problem. is.”