The
poor form of Chelsea's defenders is a big reason for their struggles this
season, according to former Blues striker Tony Cascarino.
Antonio Conte's side were comprehensively outplayed by Arsenal on Saturday
as they dropped to eighth in the Premier League after a 3-0 defeat.
That result, which follows on the heels of a 2-1 defeat to Liverpool and a
2-2 draw with Swansea City, means Chelsea have failed to win in the league
in September after taking maximum points from their opening three games in
August.
Captain John Terry has been out since injuring his ankle against Swansea,
meaning David Luiz has slotted in at the heart of the defence alongside Gary
Cahill with Cesar Azpilicueta at left back and Branislav Ivanovic at right
back.
Conte was expected to make Chelsea defensively solid but Cascarino has been
far from impressed with how they are playing collectively at the back.
Cascarino told Sky Sports News HQ: "Defensively, they are awful. Players are
playing way below the standard required.
"I think you can question all the back four. Azpilicueta has not played
anywhere near as well. Ivanovic has been poor for 18 months. Cahill has
really struggled to be the number one. David Luiz drops far too deep and
keeps people onside.
"That creates space. What is the worst thing you can do against Arsenal?
Give them space and they did. Walcott caused Azpilicueta loads of problems.
"The goalkeeper [Thibaut Courtois] as well just looks disinterested."
Ivanovic admitted after the loss to Arsenal that Chelsea's players "did not
believe in what we were doing at the beginning and we were punished".
Cascarino believes Conte is struggling to get his players to adapt to his
philosophy and singled out Eden Hazard for particular criticism in that
regard.
"If you are going to make a comment like that, you have got to be telling us
what the instructions were," Cascarino said.
"Did they deliberately ignore the instructions? For me, I think they are
uncomfortable in what he is asking them to do.
"When players ignore instructions it is usually because they don't want to
do it. They want to be comfortable in their own game.
"There are a few Chelsea players who are playing for themselves. They are
more interested in how they play but it is not helping the team.
"You can certainly accuse two or three. Hazard would fall into that bracket.
We all know how good he is and how good he can be but I would say he is one
of the players who did not follow instructions at the weekend.
"There were probably two or three others and you only need two or three
others. Then your team is finished. You are going to get beat."
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