“Pathetic football” – Ex-Man U star slams Chelsea for tepid first half | OneFootball

Chelsea are 1-0 down at half time against West Ham, and it wasn’t a pretty showing from the Blues.

They were slow and sluggish, lacking in energy and creativity, unable to deliver the ball to their players in dangerous situations. It was poor individually and collectively, and eventually they paid the price when West Ham got a breakaway and scored through Jarrod Bowen.

You can see the goal in the clip embedded here:

[Footage from Sky Sports]

The Blues did get a little more into gear after conceding, but that really just amounted to a couple of Cole Palmer pot-shots right into the West Ham goalkeeper’s hands. They’ll have to do a lot better than that, especially now the Hammer have the lead and will be looking to slow the game down.

Neville slams “pathetic” Chelsea showing as Blues go in 1-0 down

Enzo Maresca coaches Cole Palmer as Chelsea struggle. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)

Gary Neville was on commentary duties for Sky Sports game and he didn’t hold back when slamming the Blues for their insipid efforts.

He had been very critical of them just minutes before as they passively passed the ball around a bored Stamford Bridge, urging the Blues to do something creative or dangerous to try and break the deadlock and generate some excitement for the 40,000 plus people who have paid their money to come and see the team.

“This was the danger for Chelsea. They’ve let the game drift, sleep walking into danger, recycling the ball, it’s pathetic football. We see far too much of it, and they’ve just paid for it.”

He’s spot on. In recent times we’ve started well and then dropped off as the energy levels have fallen. Tonight we didn’t even get that. Cole Palmer is not getting involved, Nicolas Jackson is continuing to struggle and there’s nothing coming from out wide either.