Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane has delivered his verdict on Chelsea's defeat to Manchester City, highlighting two senior players who could have done more to stop the goals conceded.
Frank Lampard's men were dismantled by City, conceding three first-half goals and failing to come back in the second half with Callum Hudson-Odoi scoring Chelsea's first and only of the game in stoppage time.
The defeat was the latest in the Blues' disappointing run which has seen them drop to eighth after picking up just one win in their last six Premier League games.
And pressure is beginning to mount on Lampard with Chelsea having spent more than £200million on transfers in the summer to improve their squad.
So far, that money doesn't seem to have changed too much and Lampard cuts a concerning figure.
The Chelsea boss gave a predictably glum post-match interview to Sky Sports and former Manchester United midfielder turned pundit Keane spoke about the interview, and indeed Chelsea's performance, saying: "Over the course of the season, every team has difficult spells.
"He (Lampard) mentioned some of the teams he played in - that were brilliant. It’s a tough interview when you’ve been beaten heavily and he’s trying to look for the positives; he’s talking about some players doing well in the second-half, he said they started the game in the first 10 minutes - obviously the game is 90 minutes long.
"There’s no point in looking back, you can’t talk about what happened in the last year or two, it’s a new team. I think what will frustrate him, he’ll sit there with his staff and he’ll analyse it, and he’ll probably think considering the money that they’ve spent, they don’t look any stronger than they did last season.
"I know the lads are getting up to speed - it’s a big ask - and then today, they play a really good team like Man City, but the team I scratch my head over is when teams are having an off-day is when players don’t run back or put a tackle in.
"We highlighted the goal there, even Kante - an experienced international player - just hitting the ball short and they’re in on your goal. Players not sprinting back, I really don’t get back. That should be in your instinct as a human being and a footballer."
Speaking about Lampard's man-management and his decision not to 'throw players under the bus', Keane added: "He’s not going to throw any players under the bus tonight because he’s probably done that in the last few weeks, he’s been really critical, but today he’s probably thinking he needs to keep them on side if he can. He must be concerned today."
Keane also pinpointed the lack of input from several of Chelsea's senior players.
"I thought Chelsea would put in a good performance, but there was a lack of energy. When you’re playing a game and you’re losing 3-0 and you’re not putting in any tackles, that’s a huge concern for me.
"He’s got senior players out there, he’s got lads that have won the World Cup. Silva, he’s an experienced player, Kante’s an experienced player, how they didn’t sort it out, or put tackles in, or pull people in when they were under pressure, City could smell danger. That would be a big concern for me.”
