Carragher tears apart Chelsea in brutal rant in Brighton defeat & says he ‘can’t get his head around’ one issue

During the first 80 minutes at the Amex Stadium, Chelsea failed to register a single shot on target while playing without a recognized striker. However, their defensive struggles will likely be the primary concern for Maresca.

Goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen had an unconvincing performance, both in terms of shot-stopping and distribution.

After the Danish keeper misplaced a long pass, gifting Brighton another scoring opportunity, Carragher didn’t hold back in expressing his thoughts.

The Sky Sports co-commentator said: “The thing I can never get my head around with Chelsea is, not just that they’re spending money and not aiming for the biggest trophies.

“It’s the fact that the goalkeeper they end up with, or that they come into this game and they haven’t got a recognised striker. It’s just… it can’t happen with this amount of expenditure.

“There’s another Chelsea goalkeeper who looks awfully unconvincing. That [Jorgensen’s error] is so bad. They’ve spent a billion quid and they’ve ended up with these goalkeepers.

“No matter what manager you are, what team you are, what system you want to play, what way you’re playing in. If you don’t have a top goalkeeper, you won’t win anything.”

On Maresca, he said: “It’s one of those nights as a manager, it’s a really tough one for you. For Maresca, there’s nothing you can say apart from hold your hands up and almost apologise for how bad it’s been. They’ve been absolutely outclassed in every department.

“You’ve just got to take your medicine, the criticism that’s going to come, and get back to winning games quickly. This season’s really unravelled for them.”

He also took aim at Chelsea’s ownership, saying: “Chelsea can’t be a project club. They can’t wait five years. They’re serial winners.

“They had a winning model – why change it with these young players? They’re a big club. They’ve won two Champions Leagues.”