Furious Liam Rosenior points the blame at Chelsea stars as fans turn on manager

View 2 Images

An irate Liam Rosenior tore into his team after Chelsea slumped to a chastening 3-0 defeat away at Brighton , branding their performance as "unacceptable" and "indefensible".

The Blues were comprehensively beaten on the south coast courtesy of goals from Ferdi Kadioglu, Jack Hinshelwood and Danny Welbeck. A fifth straight defeat has only increased the scrutiny on Rosenior, with Chelsea losing five league matches in a row without scoring for the first time since 1912.

Angry fans turned on Rosenior during the game and the former Strasbourg chief pulled no punches in a scathing post-match interview with Sky Sports .

When asked if that was the worst performance of their poor run of form, Rosenior replied: "By far. That was unacceptable in every aspect. Unacceptable in terms of the attitude. I keep coming out and defending the players [but] that performance tonight was indefensible. Something needs to change drastically here right now.

When he was asked why he felt the players were so poor, Rosenior added: " We need to look in the mirror. I need to look in the mirror. I can't keep coming out here [and] defending some of the things that we're seeing.

"At Manchester United , genuinely the result wasn't there, [but] I felt we'd turned a corner. But the general attitude [and] spirit was lacking [tonight]. Maybe three or four out of the 11 [performed] - that's nowhere near enough for this club. That's nowhere near enough. I can't come out and lie, I'll tell the truth. That was an unacceptable performance in every area."

Rosenior was handed a six-year contract by the Stamford Bridge hierarchy when he was appointed as Enzo Maresca's successor back at the start of January.

View 2 Images

But with the Blues now seven points off fifth-placed Liverpool and facing an uphill battle to qualify for the Champions League , pressure on the 41-year-old is likely to increase in the coming weeks.

He continued: "It's a really, really difficult night. The most difficult night, not even [just] here at this magnificent football club, but in my career. Some of the things I was witnessing today, I never want to see ever again.

"To be even accused of throwing the towel in, it's unacceptable. That's all I'm gonna say. I'm hurting. That doesn't represent me. That doesn't represent the football club in any way and that has to change, starting with the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday."

There is nothing like the World Cup to create legends and this new special edition publication celebrates the heroes of the planet's greatest sporting competition