Southampton boss Mauricio Pellegrino has launched a blistering attack on his players, accusing them of Âlacking Âcommitment against Leicester.
The Argentinian was forced to apologise to furious fans after his team slumped to a humiliating 4-1 home defeat to sacked former boss Claude Puelâs Foxes on Wednesday.
An angry Pellegrino said: âIt was a bad game from the beginning.
âI feel like there was a lack of connection in Âdifferent moments. We were not Âconnecting 100 per cent on the game. When you see all the goals we conceded, we donât usually make these type of Âmistakes. Lack of connection is when you are not Âmentally 100 per cent on the pitch.
âThe mood and the feeling before the game and the preparation was right. When you are not mentally ready, itâs Âdifficult to be physically ready on the pitch.
âIn difficult moments you have to come back to the foundation of the team, the discipline of the team and think about the possibility they have to be in this club and to be in the Premier League.
âNot many players are [lucky enough to be] in this situation.
âWe have to start to choose the players that want to help the club, 100 per cent. Their behaviour has to be committed to the club, 100 per cent.
âThere are not too many times I have to say sorry to my fans, because when you do everything and you lose I know I have tried my best.â
Summer appointment Pellegrino, who has just one win in eight matches, also revealed he has let his players know how he felt about the turgid display â and that he expects a response at champions Chelsea on Saturday.
The former Liverpool defender added: âI was talking with the players. In football, a bad result is part of our life.
âMy Âplayers are Âintelligent and know it was a really bad game and they have to be humble in this moment.
âThey are human Âbeings that play football. They are not machines and sometimes they do not have a good night. My players know Âexactly what we need to be a better team and to bounce back.
âThe good thing when you play badly is you have another game quickly â we want to play this game as quickly as Âpossible.
I have to try and find solutions, to inspire my players and be stronger in difficult moments. My job is to try to achieve good results and play good football.â
| Southampton predicted XI: Chelsea (A) | Southampton travel away to face Chelsea this weekend as they look to bounce back from their defeat to Leicester. The ⌠15-12-2017 |
The day-long event in aid of Save The Children sees thousands and thousands of people go to work in their favourite festive knitwear for a good cause, but what if you also want to promote your favourite football club at the same time?
Well luckily the Premier League have (largely) got you covered.
And in the spirit of the season, weâre here for the second year in a row with our league table of the best and worst official club Christmas Jumper efforts of 2017.
This year it was a little more difficult as some clubs have come out with multiple designs, but after precisely no deliberation weâve basically pretended that that didnât happen.
So who comes out as the Christmas No. 1, and who is left with nothing but a lump of coal in their stocking?
What do you think theyâre smoking over there at the Bet365?
For the second year running (or at least the second year one of us has decided to do this) there is no Christmas Jumper on offer on the Pottersâ website. Not one.
You can get a portrait of Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting for a quid if you want, but no natty knitwear.
Failure to comply again next season will result in automatic relegation.
Itâs not quite as bad as no jumper at all, but Southamptonâs decision to simply re-list the 2016 design sees them slide down the table.
Well it is an improvement on last seasonâs pitiful Christmas t-shirt spits, but this dull, dreary, grey effort from the Swans lands them in the relegation zone.
Also available at Sports Direct, oddly enough, this black and white Magpies number is all a bit too predictable.
Donât be afraid to get a bit more creative, lads.
A jaunty effort based on their mascot from Huddersfield Town in their debut campaign at this level, but thereâs just something a bit off about Terry the Terrier here.
After all dogs are for life, not just for Christmas.
LOUD WORDS are coming from the direction of the south coast and they are wishing you a âCherry Christmasâ.
Which is probably for the best, as if they werenât then you might mistake those cherries on the jumper for some sort of cartoon bomb that Wile E. Coyote would try and use to stop the Road Runner.
The penguin on skis could have been quite a cute image, and weâre all for that here.
But itâs the fact that said penguin seems more than a little out of control as it uneasily hurtles downwards that loses this effort points.
Weâre just saying, if Palace get relegated this season will this awkward metaphor be to blame? Maybe.
Now what has gone on here?
Is there some sort of freelance company that specialise in football club Christmas Jumpers that you can hire to come in and knock out a design for you? And if so, have Burnley, Brighton and Liverpool been tricked into something here?
âYeah just knock out the same design for them all lads, theyâll never know.â
Itâs okay, but itâs nothing more than that. Itâs just a bit disappointing, thatâs all.
Youâre Watford. You play in slightly mad colours. Make use of that.
We wanted to see Harry the Hornet with a Santa hat on giving a lump of coal to Wilfried Zaha.
West Brom wear blue and white. Santa wears red and white. You can see the problem here.
And for some reason the Baggies have tried to counteract that by making the Santa who features on their jumper as giant as possible.
A jovial figure full of fun, with hair as white as crisp snowfall, Alan Pardew was appointed West Bromâs manager last month.
Top of the actual Premier League table but only in the middle of this one, this cutesy City effort is about as heartwarming as a David Silva smile.
You just want to tickle its little belly.
And the penguinâs too.
As with all teams who play in red, United were at a bit of an advantage here already. But theyâve used it well.
The colour scheme is a good one, and the smiling Santa a lovely touch.
He does like heâs celebrating Christmas a bit too much though, so that could cause a few issues with the clubâs management.
Thereâs a lot going on here, but itâs alright yâknow.
Rumours suggest that West Ham did consider moving to a bigger, bolder, brighter design a little distance away from what they were used to, but they decided to stick with what they knew.
It was the right decision.
Another strong showing from the Blues, who maintain a top six place with this Christmas pudding-inspired design.
No Big Sam jokes here please.
Yes it is ridiculously expensive, but this is Arsenal weâre talking about here. You expect that.
The Gunners maintain their top four place (too easy) with this lovely effort that combines snowflakes with Arsenalâs famous cannons on the sleeves.
Itâs the reindeerâs eyes that have secured Tottenhamâs second successive third place finish. Thereâs something so happy and hopeful in them.
Like the eyes of every Spurs fan between August and April.
The perfect present for the Chelsea fan in your life who doesnât exactly want to constantly shout about being a Chelsea fan, this mainly blue number is pretty special.
Thereâs an icy coolness to it, something that Chelsea havenât been able to pull off since the Gianfranco Zola days.
And here we have it.
In the greatest success that we can remember them having in the last couple of years, Leicester City take the honours with this understated design that shows that Christmas Jumpers donât have to be loud to be good.
You could actually imagine Jamie Vardy and the boys running out to face Manchester United in this at the King Power on Saturday.
And getting 90 minutesâ use out of a garment that youâll put away for 51 weeks on Boxing Day is surely something worth celebrating.
(Reuters) - Premier League champions Chelsea will not underestimate Southampton on Saturday as they aim to keep up the pressure on the sides around them in the top four, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has said.
Chelsea are third in the league, 14 points adrift of leaders Manchester City and three behind second-placed Manchester United after 17 games, and Courtois says the London side must continue winning to either chase down City or at least finish second.
âItâs a tough game, Southampton drew against Arsenal and itâs always difficult against them home or away,â Courtois told the clubâs website. (www.chelseafc.com)
âWe have to be careful because these are the games we have to win if we want to stay near the top and try to close the gap on Man City. Obviously we are far away but we want to keep on pushing and if we canât catch them, we want to finish second.
âIt was very good that we showed from the start we wanted to win against Huddersfield and thatâs the mentality we need in every game.â
Chelsea beat promoted Huddersfield Town 3-1 on Tuesday to maintain a four-point gap above Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Burnley with seventh-placed Arsenal a further point behind.
Southampton are 11th in the standings and winless in their last four league games.
Premier League champions Chelsea will not underestimate Southampton on Saturday as they aim to keep up the pressure on the sides around them in the top four, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has said.
Chelsea are third in the league, 14 points adrift of leaders Manchester City and three behind second-placed Manchester United after 17 games.
However, Courtois maintains that the London side must continue winning to either chase down City or at least finish second.
âItâs a tough game, Southampton drew against Arsenal and itâs always difficult against them home or away,â Courtois told the clubâs website.
'We have to be careful because these are the games we have to win if we want to stay near the top and try to close the gap on Man City.
'Obviously we are far away but we want to keep on pushing and if we canât catch them, we want to finish second.
âIt was very good that we showed from the start we wanted to win against Huddersfield and thatâs the mentality we need in every game.â
Chelsea beat promoted Huddersfield Town 3-1 on Tuesday to maintain a four-point gap above Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Burnley with seventh-placed Arsenal a further point behind.
Southampton are 11th in the standings and winless in their last four league games.
| Chelsea v Southampton: Combined XI | Southampton travel away to face Chelsea this weekend as they look to return to winning ways on Saturday. The Saints ⌠15-12-2017 |
Ahead of this weekendâs matches in the Premier League, Sportsmail brings you the latest squad news, odds and stats on every top flight fixture as it breaks.
Simply click on your team in the fixture list below to find out who is ruled out and who is making a return as well as all the key statistics surrounding your clubâs fixture.
In or out? Keep up-to-date with all the latest team news and stats ahead of the weekend
Chelsea face Southampton hoping to keep some sort of pressure on runaway league leaders Manchester City.
The Blues are 14 points behind Pep Guardiolaâs side after 17 games of the 2017/18 Premier League season, and already find themselves struggling to remain in the title race.
Further defeats would knock Chelsea even further back, and would surely destroy any chance they have of potentially toppling City at the end of the campaign.
So, who will Antonio Conte select for the match at Stamford Bridge? Click the right arrow, above, to see talkSPORTâs predicted Chelsea XI for the clash against SouthamptonâŚ