Chelsea need to show ‘more pride’, says Cahill

Scott Anderson
Gary Cahill: Man City defeat was "disappointing"

Gary Cahill: Man City defeat was "disappointing"

Chelsea defender Gary Cahill has called on his teammates to show “more pride” in their remaining Premier League fixtures – even if they don’t have anything to play for.

The Blues’ Premier League title defence has been a sheer disaster, and the 3-0 home defeat to Manchester City was the latest blow in a nightmare season, leaving them languishing 10th in the league.

Cahill was left to reflect on a poor display and insisted the team must put the loss behind them and end a dismal season with a positive run of results, especially with the arrival of new manager Antonio Conte after Euro 2016.

When asked if a lack of trophies or Champions League qualification could have an effect, Cahill said: “We are not used to it and sometimes that produces performances like that.

“But we should have more pride in ourselves to go out and give a performance and at least run around and try to get close to people.

“We need to maybe speak next week as a group because we have some great players and some good lads.

“We have nothing to play for but I don’t care how you play, you run around and if you make mistakes you make mistakes and you go again. I thought we lacked that in this game.”

Sergio Aguero notched a hat-trick for the visitors, who improved their chances of securing a top-four finish after their own title tilt stuttered massively.

But for Chelsea, whose interim manager Guus Hiddink admitted City thoroughly deserved their margin of victory, it was another utterly forgettable afternoon in a campaign they must wish would end.

Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was sent off after bringing down Fernandinho to allow Aguero to steer home a penalty to complete his hat-trick.

But it was the first two goals which showed the gulf in class as former Chelsea man Kevin De Bruyne ran the show in midfield and the returning Yaya Toure and Samir Nasri also impressed.

Cahill echoed the sentiments of Hiddink in regards to City’s dominance but also called into question the desire of the Chelsea team.

“It is unbelievably disappointing,” the England defender told chelseafc.com.

“I thought we got what we deserved. At times in that game we were rubbish and lacked the desire to get a result and they (Manchester City) had it and they punished us for it.

“We seemed to have a few corners for us and the next minute they were down our end having a dangerous attack at goal.

“Maybe it was a lack of concentration from us. We started the game okay, we had a few chances and put a bit of pressure on and got some corners but overall, we can play a hell of a lot better than that.”