Chelsea were thumped by bitter London rivals Arsenal at the Emirates (Picture: Getty)
Conor Gallagher told Chelsea supporters that the squad were ‘definitely putting the effort in’ when quizzed on a young fan’s brutal banner in the wake of the side’s 5-0 drubbing at Arsenal.
Leandro Trossard put Arsenal in front after only four minutes at the Emirates and Chelsea managed to restrict the Premier League leaders until the halfway stage before crumbling in the second period, with both Ben White and Kai Havertz completing braces.
It was an emphatic response from the Gunners after a painful week which had seen the club slip up in the title race with defeat to Aston Villa before suffering elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Bayern Munich.
Chelsea, meanwhile, must pick up the pieces once again, with Wednesday’s London derby capitulation coming just three days on from their FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester City at Wembley.
The result sent Mikel Arteta’s men three points clear of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League and 30 points better off than Mauricio Pochettino’s side in the table, who remain stranded down in ninth place.
During the clash, TV cameras captured a young Chelsea supporter holding aloft a sign which read, ‘I don’t want your shirt!! I want you to want to fight for ours UTC’, while loud jeers and groans were heard coming from the away end throughout.
Chelsea midfielder Gallagher – wearing the captain’s armband in Reece James’ absence – was asked about the placard in his post-match interview with TNT Sports and tried his best to reassure fans that the squad were indeed fighting for the shirt.
A young Chelsea fan held aloft a banner which read: ‘I don’t want your shirt!’ (Picture: Getty)
‘We definitely are putting the effort in. I know how much it means to all the boys,’ Gallagher said when asked for his thoughts on the assertion that Chelsea’s players are not putting the effort in.
‘I know it’s been said many times, it is a very young squad with not much experience as a team in the Premier League.
‘As we have seen this season, we’ve had a lot of ups and a lot of downs as well.’
Havertz scored a second-half double against his former club (Picture: Getty)
The England international stressed that the squad would be doing everything in their power to iron out their mistakes and put the situation right ahead of their trip to Aston Villa this weekend.
‘We’re still improving and working together as a team to get to that next level and today was one of those days where we were just nowhere near it,’ Gallagher added.
‘We need to just dust ourselves off and also look at the performance, where we can improve and all the mistakes we made, where we can put it right and get ready for the next one.’
The floodgates opened after White’s 52nd-minute goal (Picture: Getty)
After the interview, Joe Cole defended Gallagher and argued that the midfielder was one of the few Chelsea players to put their all in this season.
‘It’s a difficult question for him to answer because he will see the work that’s going in on the training pitch,’ the ex-Chelsea and England winger said.
‘Maybe they’ve come up against an Arsenal team that’s just better than them, but it’s a very difficult thing.
‘By the way, him as a player, you can never level them questions. I don’t think any Chelsea fan would ever level that at him personally, but I think there would be other players in the squad.’
Pochettino apologised for the manner of Chelsea’s defeat after the game (Picture: Getty)
Cole added: ‘When I think about whether they’re working hard enough, I think of things like body language.
‘What can you control as a footballer? You’re going through a tough time, you know the fans are upset. The fans pay their money, they can have their opinion and that is absolutely their right so what can you control?
‘You go a goal down, puff your chest out. Two goals down, still make that run to shut someone down, still encourage your team-mates, still flying into tackles.’
Rio Ferdinand, meanwhile, said it was a sign of Chelsea’s plight that an inexperienced player like Gallagher was having to field questions in the wake of such a crushing defeat.
‘It tells you exactly where Chelsea are,’ the legendary ex-Manchester United defender said.
‘A young 24-year-old, an inexperienced footballer, is having to come out and bat questions off like that about the fans and the way they feel about the club.
‘Normally you would see an experienced international captain coming out and speaking.’
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