Alan Shearer insists the buck stops with Maurizio Sarri after Chelsea’s recent poor performances.
The Blues head coach recently publicly criticised his players and saw them produce a dismal performance in Wednesday night’s 4-0 defeat at Bournemouth.
And BBC pundit Shearer pulled no punches in his assessment of their display.
Speaking on Match of the Day, the former England captain said: “That was an embarrassing defeat and an embarrassing performance.
“When your backs are against the wall you’re looking to your team and saying ‘Come on, give us something’.
“He looked at his team – again, for the second successive league game – and he’s come out again and said he’s finding it very difficult to motivate these players. Well that is his job to motivate them.”
Jorginho, Sarri’s flagship summer signing, has struggled in midfield and Chelsea must hope the arrival of Gonzalo Higuain makes the difference.
Striker Higuain made little impact at Bournemouth on his Premier League debut and was substituted in the second half.
Shearer added: “When you hear Bournemouth players look at Jorginho as a weakness and think if they stand on him they’re going to get something – it happened again.
“He’s now got his man in, in Higuain. So it has to improve.
“They now find themselves outside of the top four, so it’s got to improve.”