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Chelsea are in freefall after their latest defeat – 3-0 at Everton – and now have a two‑week international break during which to stew on 10 damaging days.

After suffering an 8-2 aggregate loss to Paris St‑Germain in the Champions League last 16, Chelsea’s defeat at the hands of Beto and Ilman Ndiaye on Saturday means back‑to‑back Premier League losses and no wins in four in all competitions.

This has led to increasing scrutiny of head coach Liam Rosenior and the club as a whole, not least from vice‑captain Enzo Fernandez, who said Chelsea had lost “identity, structure and direction” since former boss Enzo Maresca left the club in January, adding the players did not understand why he left.

Although Fernandez went closest to scoring and embraced Rosenior after the match, his comments paint a worrying picture.

Once again on Saturday, Chelsea were outrun, error‑prone and tactically open, as Everton played through them for a comfortable win at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

The result leaves Chelsea sixth in the Premier League, still just one point behind fifth‑placed Liverpool in the race for Champions League qualification.

However, Everton are now seventh and only two points behind Chelsea, part of a group of sides capable of leapfrogging the struggling giants with seven matches left to play this season.

“I don’t focus on the noise,” Rosenior told BBC Match of the Day. “I know the reality of where I’m at and where we are at as a club and what we can achieve, which is still some amazing things.

Former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin told BBC Radio 5 Live that Chelsea are “not getting the best” out of their players at present.

“You need to find out why that’s happened,” he said. “That can’t be allowed to happen in the Premier League.”

Rosenior has faced criticism for his level of rotation, with no club having made more changes than Chelsea’s 99 in the Premier League from match to match.

That rotation has increased under the 41-year-old, who says he does not have a recognised number one goalkeeper, with Robert Sanchez and Filip Jorgensen in rotation.

Sanchez’s form has dipped as a result, with further mistakes against Everton. He was caught in possession early on by Beto but was rescued by defender Jorrel Hato, before allowing a shot from the striker to slip through his fingers in the second half.

There was further criticism for others, including defender Wesley Fofana, while even star attackers Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro struggled to create as Chelsea went goalless for a third consecutive match.

“What I need to do better is make better decisions in terms of team selections, how we freshen up the team and rotate the team to make sure we are competitive in these games,” Rosenior told BBC Radio 5 Live.

Before large numbers of the travelling Chelsea supporters left Everton’s stadium before the full-time whistle, they were singing anti-ownership songs. Rosenior approached the remaining fans to apologise and thank them for their support but some see his appointment as symptomatic of wider problems in the hierarchy.

After home matches against Port Vale in the FA Cup quarter-final and a home match against Manchester City, fans of Chelsea and Strasbourg, who are also owned by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, will march on Stamford Bridge before the home game with Manchester United (Saturday, 18 April).

“In every area of the game, Everton fought and battled in such a way that has shown Chelsea up,” Nevin added.

Defeat by Everton means Chelsea have lost three of their past four Premier League matches – as many defeats as in their previous 18 games in the competition.

They have also failed to score in three consecutive matches in all competitions for the first time since September 2023 despite attempting 52 shots (16 on target) across those fixtures.

That profligacy in front of goal has been matched by defensive issues, with Chelsea conceding the opening goal in four consecutive Premier League games for the first time since November 2023.

There is also the well‑publicised statistic that Chelsea have been outrun by every Premier League opponent in every match this season.

“We have played 10 Premier League games in my time here and have 17 points,” Rosenior told Match of the Day.

“We are not in as bad a place as the noise suggests – but we need to come out of it very quickly.”

Indeed, since Rosenior replaced Maresca, Chelsea are fourth in the Premier League form table, winning five of their 10 games.

Only Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City have picked up more points in this period.

Wayne Rooney, who had Rosenior as his assistant at Derby County in 2021 and 2022, believes the Chelsea boss is getting unfairly scrutinized.

“I do [think he is harsh criticism]. He has been from the moment he went in,” Rooney told Match of the Day.

“Liam knows he will get judged on results. He started really well, they have hit a bad run of form over the last couple of weeks but he needs to figure out a way to get out of it.

There are many reasons Champions League football is so important for Chelsea. The most obvious is prestige.

Without it, Chelsea risk being unable to attract key transfer targets. Striker Liam Delap is believed to have chosen a move to Stamford Bridge over Manchester United for the chance to play in the Champions League.

Meanwhile, there is also the issue of revenue. Qualification for the competition is the single biggest way for a major club to boost its bottom line. TV income, prize money and matchday revenue are far greater than those generated in the Europa League or Conference League.

It is especially important for Chelsea, who still lack a long‑term front‑of‑shirt sponsor and whose stadium, Stamford Bridge, lags behind the bigger and more modern grounds used by many of their league rivals.

It’s for all these reasons that before the season, the primary club target for former boss Maresca was to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Tottenham interim head coach Igor Tudor has cleared up the viral moment where it was thought he mistakenly hugged someone thinking it was Liverpool manager Arne Slot.

Last Sunday at Anfield the 47-year-old Croatian was caught by TV cameras before their 1-1 draw seemingly mixing up Tottenham’s player liaison officer Allan Dixon with Slot.

The images gained traction on social media and were used to poke fun at Tudor but, before their Premier League home game against Nottingham Forest on Sunday, he said there was no confusion at his end.

Tudor said he frequently works with Dixon, who is also the brother-in-law of ex-Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, and gave him another hug before their 3-2 win over Atletico Madrid in midweek to make light of it.

“I don’t recognise the guy who I spend 10 hours with every day?! So I come out and don’t know he is? It was a little bit ridiculous,” Tudor told a news conference.

“Now [on Wednesday] we did it on purpose to make a joke, because from now on I call him ‘Arne’. It’s not Allan, it’s Arne!”

Tudor said he was alerted to the incident by his family, who also thought he had accidentally confused Dixon with Slot.

He added: “What happened was my son, who is 20 years old, said in Croatia everyone is laughing with you because you did this mistake. I said, ‘what mistake?’ and I said to him, ‘you do know who the guy is?’.

“So I said, ‘it’s Allan Dixon, I’m spending all days together with him’, so I came out and he’s standing in front of my bench. So what other coach can be there in front of it? It’s my training zone.

“He was there, I came to him to make a joke. If you understand, I came from this side [Dixon’s right], I touched him and go to the other side.

Roma full-back Wesley Franca has emerged as a target for Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea keen on Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga while striker Marcus Rashford faces uncertain future at Barcelona.

Arsenal have stepped up their search for a right-back with Roma’s 22-year-old Brazilian Wesley Franca a potential target. (Teamtalk)

Liverpool are ahead of Chelsea in the race to sign 23-year-old Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, with the Reds holding talks with the France international’s representatives on two occasions. (Caught Offside)

Barcelona boss Hansi Flick says he does not know what will happen with England striker Marcus Rashford, with the club having an option to turn the 28-year-old’s season-long loan from Manchester United into a permanent move for £26m. (Manchester Evening News)

Arsenal are under pressure to sell players in the summer with very few first-team players considered untouchable. (Telegraph – subscription required)

Barcelona and Brazil winger Raphinha, 29, has ruled out leaving the Nou Camp before the end of the 2026-27 season despite interest from Saudi Arabia. (Sport – in Spanish)

Newcastle midfielder Bruno Guimaraes, 28, is totally committed to the club and the Brazilian will not make becoming the highest earner at St James’ Park a huge part of talks over a new contract. (Newcastle Chronicle – subscription required)

Fulham‘s bid to sign 23-year-old PSV Eindhoven and United States striker Ricardo Pepi has been put on hold despite the player completing a medical. (Fabrizio Romano)

None of Chelsea‘s squad have asked to leave the club in the summer despite their struggles on the field. (Mail+ – subscription required)

Barcelona and Real Madrid may be interested in Norway striker Erling Haaland but Manchester City have no intention of letting the 25-year-old leave this summer. (Football Insider)

Juventus are assessing the possibility of signing 33-year-old Germany defender Antonio Rudiger, whose contract with Real Madrid runs out in the summer. (Tuttosport – in Italian)