Mauricio Pochettino delivered the understatement of the century with his admission that Chelsea's 5-0 defeat to Arsenal was "disappointing".
Chelsea trailed 1-0 at the break after a solid first 45 minutes, but four quick-fire goals after the break, including a double from former Blue Kai Havertz, created all sorts of chaos which left Chelsea limping to the final whistle.
Pochettino refused to offer any excuses for the performance, admitting Chelsea simply "gave up" when things started to get bad.
"It's not difficult to explain," he told BBC Match of the Day. "Everyone saw we didn't compete from the beginning of the game. After we concede I think the team was so soft. I'm so disappointed with the start because we're supposed to have full energy and compete better.
"We were not aggressive and we did not concentrate in situations where it is easy to find the solution. That is why we're so disappointed. We were talking at half-time to start in a different way. But we start really bad. In 10, 15 minutes in the second half, when we conceded the third goal we gave up. It was tough on them until the end of the game.
"We competed really well against Manchester City, it was a fantastic game. But then we did not compete three days later. Maybe we were not fresh.
"It's not fair to talk about the players we are missing. From the start of the season we have been missing so many players every single week. One team is competing for the Premier League. The other team is competing with all the circumstances we have. The team showed a lack of capacity to resist, that is what is the problem.
"Arsenal is a very good team. But I think we allowed them to play. We gave all the possibility to play and create chances [to them]. That is why we're so disappointed. In some parts of the game it was an even game. But we're too inconsistent."
He added to TNT Sports: "I think we started the game not so well. We concede the goal and then it was difficult for us to recover from this goal. I think in the first half we compete after 10, 15 minutes. We could not approach the game like we started in the first half and we didn't compete the way we needed to compete and then when they scored the third it was easy for Arsenal to control the game.
"I think you need to be clinical. Like against Manchester City three days ago, we were not clinical and then today the same thing happened. Difficult performance because it is not nice to see your team play like this when you are meant to have full energy. After three days when you play a fantastic game against Manchester City, today we are disappointed with the performance."
Chelsea could have jumped up to seventh, ahead of Manchester United, with a victory and kept their European hopes alive, but Pochettino admitted the Blues perhaps do not deserve such an honour next season.
"Now it is difficult to see the future because after this game we feel disappointed," he said. "It is difficult to talk about objectives. If we compete like Saturday, OK. But if we compete like today, I think we deserve to go into Europe? I think in this way, no."
READ THE LATEST CHELSEA NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS & GOSSIP
feed
