• Premier League

Ancelotti slams players over 'worst performance'

ESPN staff
November 15, 2010
Carlo Ancelotti witnessed his side throw in an abject display against Sunderland © Getty Images
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Carlo Ancelotti labelled Chelsea's 3-0 defeat to Sunderland as the worst performance of his reign at the club, but refused to blame the result on the departure of Ray Wilkins.

Wilkins was released by Chelsea on Thursday, but Ancelotti was adamant that Wilkins' absence played no part in Chelsea's poor performance.

"We lost because Sunderland played better than us, not because of anything else," Ancelotti said. "Everything was wrong today and nobody played well. I have never had a result like this before with Chelsea.

"Sunderland played a fantastic game with more fighting spirit, mentality and attitude. If you don't show those kind of qualities, it is not a surprise to lose a game like this."

Chelsea were without captain John Terry, Frank Lampard and Michael Essien for the club's worst defeat since Roman Abramovich took over at the club in 2003, but Ancelotti insisted his squad was strong enough to deal with such absences.

"We have had important players out in the past and still played well," he said. "But today was different. We were not able to play our football.That was the worst performance in my time at this club.

"I didn't shout at the players in the dressing room after the game because I wanted to speak to them without emotion. When everything was going so well a few months ago, I said that difficult times would arrive.Now they have arrived and we have to sort things out in training, regain our focus and play better than we did today."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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