Thomas Tuchel has given his Chelsea players a dressing down for their performances against Real Madrid and Brentford.
The European champions were hammered 4-1 by London rivals Brentford last weekend before Madrid all but ended their hopes of defending their Champions League crown with a 3-1 win at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
Tuchel has been dumbfounded by the defensive displays which have seen them ship seven goals in two games, with the Blues usually so robust at the back under the German.
Ahead of Saturday's visit to Southampton, the former Paris Saint-Germain boss hauled his players in for a meeting at their Cobham training ground on Thursday to vent his frustrations.
“It was not a discussion meeting yesterday… It was more [one where] I gave my point of view,” said Tuchel.
“This is sometimes necessary. We take the players' view very seriously and often into account but over the last two games we thought it is necessary to give our point of view.
“Behind closed doors, in an atmosphere where everybody can take criticism. I feel involved in a development like this. We don’t point fingers and look for people that are guilty. We are in this together. We needed to point out some points in our game where we are unhappy and could have defended better."
Asked about the sudden defensive frailties, Tuchel said: “It is very not like us to defend like this and concede so many goals.
“That’s why we didn’t see it coming because it was not the case before national break. These two matches within five days are very untypical and not easy to deal with because it does not fit to a pattern.
“We constantly try to figure out how we can improve. We need to stop this kind of direction and development as soon as possible. The best possibility is tomorrow [against Southampton].”
