Chelsea players, Maurizio Sarri, has admitted that his players could not explain the reason for their second-half collapse against Bournemouth, during a lengthy post-match inquest in the away dressing room at the Vitality Stadium.
Four second-half goals condemned Chelsea to a 4-0 defeat, their worst in the Premier League since 1996.
After the game, Sarri sent his backroom staff out of the dressing room, to speak to his squad alone for almost an hour, before conducting his mandatory post-match media duties.
When he finally appeared at his news conference, Sarri said he wanted his players to tell him why they fell apart after the break.
“In that moment I wanted to talk with them alone, without anybody else.
“I needed to understand. It’s impossible to play in such a different way between the first and second half. I don’t understand why. I don’t know exactly. I want to try again tomorrow because we want to solve the problem.
“It’s very difficult to have an idea of the performance. We played very well in the first half. In the second half we conceded the [first] goal after two minutes and stopped playing. In the offensive phase, we played not as a team, but as individual players, and did not defend. It’s hard to understand why.
“What I saw in the first half, there was the possibility to solve the problem. We had 43 minutes still to play, so we could solve the problem. But not with that kind of reaction. So it’s very difficult for me to understand why. I wanted to try to understand after the match.
“I spoke with the players immediately after the match, but it’s very difficult also for them to say why. So I have to try again tomorrow because I need to understand why, because I need to solve this problem,” Sarri said.
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