Chelsea star provides honest assessment following Newcastle United setback

Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher delivers damning verdict of defeat against Newcastle United

Speaking to the media (h/t Metro), Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher delivers a damning verdict and admits that Newcastle United to win the game on Saturday.

The Blues were handed a third consecutive league defeat at the hands of the Magpies. Joe Willock scored in the first half to make a telling difference.

After a promising start to life under Graham Potter, things have taken a downturn in the last few weeks. As clubs into the mid-season World Cup break, Chelsea are one of the worst teams in the league on the current form table.

Admitting that Newcastle deserved the win and also asking more from the team, here’s Gallagher (h/t Metro):

“I don’t think we were good enough and I think Newcastle deserved to win.

“We’ve got to be better and we need to take a look at ourselves. Physically, they were stronger than us and a lot more intense and that’s something we need to improve on.

“If we want to be challenging for titles and things like that, then we need to be so much better and Newcastle showed that. So we need to look at ourselves because we know there’s a lot to improve on.”

Gallagher had a chance later in the game to equalise, but his shot lacked the venom to beat Nick Pope even if the direction was there. That finish kind of summarised Chelsea’s performance on the day. The midfielder is off to the World Cup with England now, hoping to lift the trophy in a month’s time.

Potter’s men had decent moments in possession but lacked the cutting edge in the final third while being open at the back for most parts of the game.

It was always going to be a tough start for the new manager. He was given reigns on September 8 after the sacking of Thomas Tuchel. A few days after that, players dispersed for their international duties, only to come back and start the journey of 13 games in 43 days till the World Cup break.

Hence, not only deprived of an opportunity to spend the pre-season with the players, Potter had been more focused on getting a team together to challenge on the field irrespective of schedule intensity and injuries to key players. He himself did not get enough time in this period to stamp his system on the team.

More Chelsea News:

• Paul Merson believes England will not win the World Cup due to excluding Chelsea defender Reece James
• Graham Potter gives his verdict on Chelsea loss against Newcastle United
• David Seaman calls out Chelsea Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for going missing against Arsenal

The World Cup break may have come at the right time for Chelsea. It would allow the manager to reassess his strategies and come up with better ones when the league season resumes on Boxing Day.