We asked for your views on whether Chelsea's players had 'downed tools' in the final stages of Liam Rosenior's era at the Blues.
Here are some of your comments:
James: I would like to think that whoever is in charge, the players would give it their all. However, the reality is that clearly player power has a lot of sway. It is now obvious that, for whatever reason, there was no universal buy-in to Rosenior and that reflects more on the players than his managerial competence.
Tony: If you have ever had a boss that failed to inspire you, demotivated you by their ineptitude, then you may have not performed at your best, and maybe lacked the desire to succeed. If that is an experience you recognise, then you should understand to an extent what happened at Chelsea. The key responsibility of the head coach is to get the best from the team. Rosenior comprehensively failed to do that. The players shoulder some blame, but he shoulders more.
Peter: Analysis paralysis. Rosenior wanted to play a man-for-man system all over the pitch. The players neither believed nor understood the system and the results dropped off a cliff as soon as Rosenior tried to implement the strategy and tactics to carry his vision into effect. On Sunday, we saw no such system and played a formation and style the team understood and believed in.
Graham: Having the sporting directors run the playing side is a very poor way to run a Premier League club. Evidently, they make all the signings and decide on tactics, who will be selected and so on. None of them have any experience of managing a side, and it shows with the players they have signed and those they have allowed to leave. This situation has a lot to do with the current state of the club.
Peter: In reference to how players performed under Rosenior and how they performed after his departure, it goes to show that the players did not like his way of playing out from the back (boring). Against Leeds, they were playing more directly with the ball going up front a lot faster and this was why they got the win in the FA Cup semi-final. They were playing how the team and the fans wanted to see them playing.
