Conor Gallagher found himself in the hot seat as he addressed a Chelsea fan’s criticism, calling for more “fight” from the players following their dismal performance against Arsenal.
After a crushing 5-0 defeat at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday evening, the Blues midfielder faced tough questions about the team’s lacklustre display.
This derby debacle marked yet another setback in Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure, leaving Chelsea stranded in ninth place on the Premier League table, a daunting 19 points behind the top four.
Throughout the season, the club’s supporters have voiced their increasing frustration with the team’s performances and during the second half against the shirt, a young fan held up a banner which read: “I don’t want your shirt I want you to fight for ours.”
When Gallagher was asked to respond to the poster, he said: “We definitely are putting the effort in. I know it’s been said many times; it’s a very young squad with not much experience as a team in the Premier League. As you’ve seen this season, we’ve had a lot of ups and a lot of downs as well. We’re still improving and working together as a team to get to that next level.
“Today is one of those days where we were just nowhere near it. We need to kind of dust ourselves off but also look at the performance and where we can improve, and all the mistakes we made, where we can put it right and just get ready for the next one.”
Chelsea’s defeat against Arsenal marked their second consecutive loss, following a 1-0 defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-finals.
This defeat dealt a significant blow to their aspirations of securing European qualification for the next season, with the team now trailing three points behind sixth-placed Newcastle United, who have managed to revive their fortunes with three victories in their last four league matches.
The 5-0 thrashing is Arsenal’s biggest victory over Chelsea across all competitions.
This defeat is also the heaviest suffered by the Blues by a fellow London rival since their 6-0 loss to QPR in 1986.
Looking ahead, Chelsea face the daunting task of regrouping swiftly as they prepare for challenging games against Aston Villa on Saturday and London rivals Tottenham next week in their next two fixtures.