Pundit makes 'no desire' Chelsea claim after defeat to 'dangerous' Fulham
Pundits have been dissecting Chelsea’s home defeat to rivals Fulham on Boxing Day.
Chelsea have been criticised for their approach against Fulham on Boxing Day, with one player being called out for his defending for the late goal. The Blues made it back-to-back slip-ups on Thursday, conceding a late goal to suffer home defeat to local rivals Fulham.
Enzo Maresca’s men led but conceded an equaliser with eight minutes to go and a winner five minutes into stoppage time. The result is a huge blow for any title hopes the Blues may harbour, with Liverpool winning their Boxing Day clash to extend their lead at the top.
Speaking after the game, BBC pundit Troy Deeney called out one specific player for what he perceived as a lack of effort for the Fulham winner, saying: “It’s so poor from Chelsea defensively. Levi Colwill doesn’t even break into sprint and has no desire to get back. It is well played from Fulham. They’ve planned for this and he’s got the goal.”
Meanwhile, Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson was more concerned with Chelsea’s overall approach, believing the Blues were asking to be punished after going ahead through Cole Palmer. “Chelsea just sat back and let Fulham dictate the game after going a goal up,” he told Sky Sports Soccer Special after the game. “Fulham looked the most dangerous team. Chelsea kept sitting back. Since they have gone second in the league, I don’t know if the nerves have hit them and they’ve got a little bit tight, because against Everton they weren’t great either.
“It ups the expectation, 100 per cent. Now all of a sudden we’re talking about Chelsea getting top four, whereas before it was, ‘Chelsea are in the title race.’ It’s all be built up and I just thought today they looked nervous. They’ve got too many good players to sit back like that. For me, they are not really a major counter-attacking team. You’ve got to go and close games down. I thought Fulham thoroughly deserved it in the end.”