A frustrated Thomas Tuchel criticised his players consistency and focus after Chelsea lost 2-1 to Southampton on Tuesday evening.
The Blues suffered their second Premier League defeat of the season at St Mary's thanks to first-half goals from Romeo Lavia and Adam Armstrong. The visitors did take the lead, with Raheem Sterling scoring his third goal since his move from Manchester City.
The result leaves Chelsea in eighth, five points behind leaders Arsenal having played a game more. Worryingly for Tuchel, City and Tottenham can move six points clear of them with wins against Nottingham Forest and West Ham respectively on Wednesday.
"We started well in all the games almost but obviously we are struggling with our focus and consistency in matches," Tuchel told BT Sport. "We struggled to find answers and find the way back if things don't go in our direction. Things did go in our direction today but then we struggled after the equaliser.
"I don't know if concern is the right word. I absolutely dislike to lose, it is the second time this season and I don't think it takes a lot to beat us and this I don't like. We try to win matches and the way we do this is something we need to understand as fast as possible. I also don't understand why we are in this situation with injuries to all midfield.
"I think in the first 20 minutes we created half chances but struggled to score. That is also not brand new for us and that doesn't necessarily have the consequence you can lose matches, you can win 1-0."
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Chelsea have invested heavily in their squad this summer following a big turnover of players, with the likes of England international Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Gabriel Slonina, Carney Chukwuemeka, Marc Cucurella and Cesare Casadei joining Tuchel's squad.
Those to leave Stamford Bridge include Timo Werner, Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen, Danny Drinkwater, Emerson and Ross Barkley. Romelu Lukaku and Callum Hudson-Odoi, meanwhile, have all completed loan transfers from Chelsea.
The result has been a worrying start to the campaign after a poor pre-season, which saw the Blues fail to beat Arsenal and MLS side Charlotte FC. In terms of their Premier League form, they've picked up wins against Everton and Leicester but lost 3-0 to Leeds.
It's too early to tell if Chelsea are in danger of missing out on a top-four finish, yet the early signs aren't promising. Southampton, meanwhile, are up to seventh after their second win of the campaign.
“We have this DNA, we want to do this against every opponent and we never stop running, this is a way you can hurt big teams when you do it committed," Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl told the BBC.
He added: "We had a lot of changes in the team, a lot of young players, a very young back four and goalkeeper but they have shown they are learning very quickly. We are not scared and it is enjoyable to work with because they take immediately what you want them to do."
