“I know they have one or two out, but what the heck?” – Craig Burley crushes Chelsea’s ‘unacceptable’ loss to Southampton

Former Scotland midfielder Craig Burley has blasted Chelsea over their ‘unacceptable’ loss to Southampton.

Thomas Tuchel’s side lost 2-1 to The Saints on Tuesday.

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New boy Raheem Sterling put Chelsea ahead in the first 25 minutes of the clash.

But Southampton turned the game upside down before half-time with goals from Romeo Lavia and Adam Armstrong.

The Blues have since come under fire for their poor performance, with a number of pundits chiming in on the criticism.

And Burley, who spent eight years at Chelsea during his playing career, has called the portrayal “unacceptable”.

He told ESPN: “They were poor and it wasn’t surprising. Yes, they beat Leicester at the weekend but again they are poor away from home.

“They took the lead against a team that a lot of people are betting on relegation. None of Southampton’s players would come close to the Chelsea team.

“It’s another unacceptable performance. It’s unacceptable. I know they have one or two out [injured] So what? It just wasn’t good enough. And it’s not an anomaly.

“Look at the performance at Leeds. You got a win at Everton. I’m sorry, we’re trying to find excuses here, but it’s not good enough.”

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Burley also singled out Kai Havertz, Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech for underperforming.

He added: “Listen, I’ve said it before with Kai Havertz… it’s all very good, playing well in the Champions League, scoring in the final, that’s great for him, but there’s 50 games in one Season.

“Timo Werner went back and scored a hat-trick in Germany, that tells you everything you need to know. He couldn’t do it in England and Havertz is the same.”

“Mount is not playing well. They will all cry for Pulisic afterwards. It’s up to these players to do it.”

“Ziyech, he’s light. When he went down [Frank] We were all worried about Lampard because he looked injury-prone and weak.

“These players are all worth millions. The manager has to sort that out.”

Chelsea are now eighth in the Premier League table with seven points.

They’ve already dropped points in three of their first five games this season despite being the Prem’s biggest summer releases.