Cole Palmer accused Chelsea because of overconfidence in Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Burnley at Stamford Bridge.
Mauricio Pochettino’s expensively-assembled team seemed to be in control when Burnley’s Lorenz Assignon got a second yellow card for fouling Mykhailo Mudryk and top-scorer Palmer scored from the resulting penalty in the 44th minute.
But Josh Cullen surprised Stamford Bridge by scoring two minutes into the second half with a great shot from outside the box.
Chelsea had difficulty taking advantage of their numerical superiority before regaining the lead in the 78th minute when Palmer scored again, this time with a low shot.
But Burnley drew level again three minutes later, when Dara O’Shea headed home from a corner, leaving Chelsea in mid-table obscurity.
After the game, the England international said: ‘It’s not good, really… it can’t happen. Especially when they go down to ten men.
‘We got too comfortable. Same story, we harm ourselves every week. It’s got to improve from us as players. We need consistency.’
Pochettino, however, was equally frustrated at watching his team give up another lead, particularly against opponents who seem destined for a quick return to the Championship.
He said: ‘We lack energy, the ability to handle the situation, we lacked communication among us.
‘After Wolverhampton, I think the team were celebrating every tackle. Today we were not the same, the energy, maybe for a different reason.
‘We have a clear idea in each way we need to improve. That is the fact, that is the reality. We cannot analyze in a different way. That is the key.
‘The way we concede the first goal, they have one less. They need to realize we need to increase our work levels. It’s not to blame the players, it’s to blame everyone.
‘We need to be tougher when we have the players. We need to be a team, find better communication and be more competitive.’
