Phil Neville has claimed on Radio Five Live that whoever decided to sell midfielder Nemanja Matic to Manchester United should be sacked after Chelsea crashed to a 3-0 defeat to Roma on Tuesday night.
Chelsea were picked apart by Roma in the Champions League Group C fixture on Tuesday as manager Antonio Conte cut a frustrated figure post-match.
Stephan El Shaarawy scored a first-half brace as Roma, who held Chelsea to a thrilling 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge a fortnight ago, destroyed the Premier League champions.
Chelsea’s Premier League title defence has already resulted in three defeats in 10 matches, leaving Conte’s men fourth and nine points behind leaders Manchester City.
Former United man Neville said the club’s problems stem from Matic’s departure in July.
“Whoever made the decision at #CFC to sell Matic needs sacking”@Fizzer18 on ‘the poorest decision I’ve ever seen in the Premier League’ pic.twitter.com/qDcFJuRiGQ
— BBC 5 live Sport (@5liveSport) October 31, 2017
“What’s gone wrong for Chelsea? One word. Matic,” Neville told BBC 5 Live’s coverage of the Chelsea match on Tuesday night.
“It’s as simple as that. The minute they sold Nemanja Matic was a mistake.
“When you had Matic sat in front of you, alongside [N’Golo] Kante, there was protection. Whoever made that decision needs sacking. That is one of the poorest decisions I have ever seen in the Premier League.
“If you ask any of those Chelsea players who they would want back, they would say Matic. Chelsea replaced him with someone who is going to do the same job – [Tiemoue] Bakayoko is not that player, he is not a holding midfield player.
“They didn’t replace Matic. I wouldn’t have let him out of the building, I would have chained him to the training ground walls.”
Matic will reunite with Conte and his former Chelsea team-mates when United travel to Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
OPINION
Strong words from Neville, and it is hard to disagree that selling Matic was a dumb move. But there is a far bigger reason for Chelsea’s difficulties in matching their sensational 2016-17 results, Champions League football. Conte was able to navigate his debut Premier League campaign without having to prepare his team for two massive matches each week. What a difference that has made, as he is no longer able to pick his strongest XI for every game.