Paul Merson does not see eye-to-eye with Graham Potter after Chelsea lost 1-0 to Southampton on a damaging day for the manager. Having taken a step forward with performances in recent weeks despite middling results, failing to beat the Premier League's bottom side is inexcusable for fans.
They let their feelings be known on Saturday afternoon, booing the side off at the break and at full-time too. It follows a recent trend of boos with Marc Cucurella coming in for plenty of individual stick. Chelsea were also booed in their last home game - a 0-0 draw to Fulham.
As for Potter, he has come under immense scrutiny and pressure having seen his men way off the pace in the first half on Saturday. The Blues were largely controlled by Saints despite them sacking their second manager of the season last week.
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The second half was much more dominant but continued failure to score goals once more proved to be the killer with no goal coming from 1.62 xG. Raheem Sterling's two efforts both being remarkably saved and blocked off the line in positions that looked harder to miss from.
It has led to the Stamford Bridge faithful calling for Potter's head now. The Blues sit 10th in the league and have won just seven matches in 22 against teams that aren't AC Milan. Outside of the Champions League it is five wins in 19 matches with just 15 goals. Since October Chelsea have scored six goals in 13 domestic matches.
Potter's verdict was one of frustration but he doesn't agree with those are holding him accountable. "When you don't get results, it can be tough," he said. "That's how it is. Some people will think I'm the problem. I don't think they're right but that doesn't mean they can't articulate their views."
Merson is less forgiving though, explaining that the team do not look well coached and are instead are playing on a one-to-one basis. "First half, Southampton were outstanding, the former Arsenal man explained. "They were closing Chelsea down, the better team in the game, lot more energy, knew what they were doing, scored a very good goal. Second half [Raheem] Sterling came on - different game. He was willing to make runs and he had two good chances both off the line.
"But Southampton worked so hard. When [Romain] Perraud got one off the line it was like he'd scored a goal. They're cuddling each other. There seemed to be a togetherness. They were all cuddling the manager at the end. They deserved it.
"One is a team. The other is an absolute team of individuals. I've never seen anything like it. The players they've brought in - take away [Enzo] Fernandez because he's a top holding midfield player - are all individual footballers.
"They all get on the ball and want to beat five or six players and there's no passage of play. It was only when Havertz and Sterling came on that there was a little bit of movement. [Mason] Mount gets eaten up because he passes the ball and the others are all dribbling it, so there's no phases in the game. I was very disappointed. It was poor.
"I don't see this stopping. They've bought a lorry load of individuals I'm afraid. It's all dribblers. It's only when Havertz comes on and starts playing with [Joao] Felix and Sterling there are passages of play."
As has been the case recently, Potter's calm demeanor did not go down well online, and Merson can see why. "Chelsea fans will be absolutely fuming," he vented. "They won't stand for this, 'oh Southampton have got a new manager so that helped them…' they're not worried about that. If you don't beat Southampton at home, their goalkeeper has to be the best player on the pitch. He wasn't."
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