Young Chelsea fan holds up brutal 'I don't want your shirts' sign during 5-0 Arsenal humiliation
On a night marred by a humiliating 5-0 defeat at the hands of London rivals Arsenal, a young Chelsea fan delivered a blunt message to their players by hoisting a sign aloft, declaring his disinterest in obtaining any shirts from them.
FollowIn a devastating blow to Chelsea's morale, a young fan delivered a stark message to their players by hoisting a sign aloft, declaring their disinterest in obtaining any shirts. The gesture came on a night marred by a humiliating 5-0 defeat at the hands of London rivals Arsenal in their Premier League crash at Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.
Arsenal, currently leading the Premier League standings, showcased their dominance as former Chelsea player Kai Havertz and Ben White each netted twice, following an early goal from Leandro Trossard just four minutes into the match.
Amidst the intense contest, a supporter made a bold statement by raising a sign adorned with images of the Chelsea kit. The message emblazoned on it read: "I don't want your shirt!! I want you to want to fight for ours. UTC (Up the Chelsea)."
During his post-match press conference, the captain of Chelsea, Conor Gallagher, was asked about the sign.
Responding to a question about the sign suggesting that Chelsea players don't work hard enough, he said, "Well we are definitely putting the effort in. I know how much it means to all the boys, I know it's been said many times, it's a very young squad with not much experience as a team in the Premier League."
"We have had a lots of ups and downs and we are still improving and working together as a team to get to the next level. Today was one of those days that we were nowhere near it. We need to dust ourselves off and also look at the performance and where we can improve and all the mistakes where we can put it right and move onto the next one," Gallagher added.
The sign also grabbed the attention of Chelsea fans on social media platforms.
"The sign held by a fan at tonight's game says it all... FIGHT FOR THE SHIRT!" said an irked Chelsea fan on X.
Another fan added, "That sign the kid was holding broke me even more. Hang your heads in shame Chelsea."
A third suggested that Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino should 'nail the sign to the dressing room wall.'
Pochettino himself joined the young fan in expressing his frustration, accusing his players of 'giving up' at the Emirates.
"We talked at half-time about how it is not possible to start the game like this. But we started in a bad way again. We conceded two goals and in this moment, the team gave up. We were not in the game," the Argentine said.
He added, It is impossible to see Saturday at Wembley, a fantastic performance, competing really well against Manchester City, one of the best in the world, and then today. You can lose a game, and Arsenal are fighting for the Premier League, but the way we competed three days ago and today, there is no excuse."
"Three days ago, fantastic game, great performance, deserved to go to the final. Today, you can use any words to describe our performance. Our standards are not sustained for the bad days. When we have bad days, we are so bad. When we are good, we are capable of everything," the Chelsea manager said.
It's been a disappointing couple of days for the Blues, capping off with a 1-0 loss to Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-finals. Despite numerous opportunities during the match, Chelsea couldn't capitalize.
In a remarkable 6-0 win over Everton, Cole Palmer netted four goals, but attention shifted when Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson contested the penalty, despite the designated penalty taker being the England international.
The heavy defeat to Arsenal now leaves Chelsea ninth in the standings, though they're just three points behind sixth-placed Newcastle with six games remaining.
