Enzo Maresca hit Chelsea's display in their 3-0 defeat against Brighton on Friday and labeled the “The worst performance” since he arrived in Stamford Bridge last year.
The blues were surpassed by their opponents at the Amex Stadium, with the astonishing effort of Kaoru Mitoma, followed with two goals on both sides of the tranquility of Yankuba Minth.
With Chelsea who confirmed that striker Nicolas Jackson would miss with a hamstring injury for the next six weeks, the side of Maresca was struggling in his absence on the south coast.
Despite the average of slightly less than 70%, Chelsea was able to register a shot on goal in a Premier League match for the first time since September 2021 (V Manchester City) in a Premier League match.
Cole Palmer struck two strikes about the goal of Bart Verbruggen, with replacement Tyrique George, who was almost late in his own net changed by Adam Webster.
But that was about as close as they came to worry about Brighton, resulting in the Blues in the top four for the time being, with Manchester City and Newcastle United lurking.
Chelsea is indeed Winloos now in five Expedic matches in the Premier League (D2 L3), although their inconsistent form was not only away from Stamford Bridge.
They have only collected nine points from their last nine top matches, after 34 of their opening 16 games of the season with an average of 2.1 points per fixture.
And Maresca, who arrived from Leicester City last June, could not hide his frustration from the latest setback on his side, because their top-four hope got a hit on the south coast.
“Probably since I arrived, that is the worst achievement, especially when we are,” Maresca told BBC Sport.
“We are fourth in the competition and by winning tonight you can go a point of third place and make the gap to the rest larger and the performance is not one that you want to offer, so we are very upset and sorry for the fans who were here.
“I think we were in control for half an hour, but after that moment [Kaoru Mitoma’s goal] We looked like we could easily admit opportunities, and we had trouble creating opportunities.
“The reason why is because of the injuries at the moment, especially with the strikers … Important players are out, but we have to find a solution.
“It is difficult if you don't have a good number nine. So you always have to find a different solution. In the last third part we have made an effort to do things, until a week or two ago we did well.”
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