Saturday 24 November 2018 22:03, UK
Maurizio Sarri was furious with a "disaster" of a defensive performance which ended Chelsea's unbeaten start against Tottenham at Wembley.
Another sluggish start from Chelsea saw Spurs take a 2-0 lead inside 16 minutes, and they ended 3-1 winners courtesy of some basic defensive errors from Sarri's side.
It ended the Italian's 18-match unbeaten run which had helped his Stamford Bridge career start in record-breaking fashion, but Sarri said he was not surprised with how events had unfolded.
"We have to try to do something, because the defensive phase today was a disaster," he said. "Not only the defensive line, the defensive phase, the offensive players pressed very badly. The midfielders did not defend very well, and the defensive line as a consequence was a disaster.
"We were surprised because today they played with the 4-3-1-2. But after five minutes the situation was very clear.
"In the first 25 or 30 minutes, we had a lot of problems getting the ball out of our half. Against Tottenham that is very dangerous to lose the ball in your half, because with their short counter attacks they are maybe one of the strongest teams in Europe."
It would have been easy for Sarri to make more of a penalty claim Eden Hazard saw turned down when Chelsea were only 1-0 down, but the Chelsea boss was so despondent with his side's performance he said it would have made little difference overall.
"I don't think [it would have changed things]," he said. "For 90 minutes there was a difference, so I don't think so.
"I have to think and study the other 90 minutes, not only one action. I don't know if it was a penalty or not. I saw it from 50-60 metres. From the bench, my position, I thought it was a penalty, but I have to say that Tottenham won very well."
