BLUES RUNNING OUT OF STEAM
CESAR AZPILICUETA has told Chelsea they have to start earning respect from teams at Stamford Bridge again.
The Blues crashed to their fourth home league defeat of the season on Boxing Day against Southampton.
And the previous SW6 loss to Bournemouth means they have now lost back-to-back home games for the first time since 2011.
They will have some respite tomorrow when they make the short hop to London rivals Arsenal.
But skipper Azpilicueta (above) said: “When teams see that they can come here and they beat us, they come with more confidence.
“Forget tactics. Everything is about recovering respect at home.
“It is about being solid – because it is not normal to lose so many games in your stadium.
“When the new year starts – in the next game – we have to be ready from the first second, make sure we are ready to win.
“The pressure of playing at home should not be negative. It should be the opposite.”
Boss Frank Lampard warned after the Boxing Day setback that he is ready to spend in the January transfer window in a bid to solve the team’s problems.
And Azpilicueta added: “It’s an issue. It’s a reality that we cannot find the consistency and the stability at home. That is really important for the second part of the season, if we want to be at the top.”
Comparison of how far Premier League teams ran (metres) in their Boxing Day matches compared to Week 18 Team Boxing Day Week 18 match Bournemouth 115,272 106,769 Man United 108,678 101,173 Newcastle 110,236 104,465 Watford 111,557 106,581 Arsenal 109,462 104,939 Norwich 111,047 107,596 Southampton 112,980 109,865 A Villa 107,592 104,894 Burnley 106,406 104,672 C Palace 106,367 104,795 Tottenham 109,017 108, 558 Leicester 109,471 111,293 Everton 105,623 107,641 Brighton 112,700 114,899 Sheffield U 111,590 113,979 CHELSEA 107,744 111,456
Diff +/+8,503m +7.506m +5,771m +4,976 +4,524 +3,451 +3,115 +2,698 +1,734 +1,573 +459 -1,822 -2,018 -2,200 -2,389 -3,712