Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel says his team are “not tough enough” after suffering their second defeat of the Premier League with 2-1 loss at Southampton on Tuesday.
The Blues have had a mixed start to the new campaign, losing 3-0 to Leeds United, while managing wins over Everton and Leicester City along with a 2-2 draw with Tottenham.
All that has left Tuchel’s side off the early pace in the Premier League, with critics ruling them out of the title race.
Raheem Sterling had put Chelsea ahead after their early domination against the Saints, but the hosts hit back with goals from Romeo Lavia and Adam Armstrong before half-time.
“We are not tough enough to win these away matches at the moment,” Tuchel said.
“It was the same story at Leeds. At Leeds we thought the problem was we didn’t score in the first 25 minutes, and they pushed us off balance with two goals and we couldn’t find any answers.
“Today we scored, everything was okay, but one set-piece again, one sloppy defending again, and we were off balance.
“We didn’t react. We were lucky not to concede a third goal at the beginning of the second half, and we were not tough enough as a team to react.”
The Blues have already shipped eight goals in five league games this term, having conceded only 33 across all 38 games last season.
Tuchel added: “You stop it with pure mentality, defending mentality so there is no superiority for the opponent, just toughen up as a team.
“I don’t like to talk about it normally because you cant prove it with data or body position, but its like this.
“Both goals are soft goals and shouldn’t happen if you want to win a Premier League match. You need to be tougher than that.
“The line is so thin between excuses and explanations. I don’t want to go down this road and give any room for excuses to anybody.”
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Fulham continued their bright start to life in the top flight with a 2-1 hoe win over Brighton & Hove Albion to sit sixth with eight points from five games.
Leeds United and Everton drew 1-1 with Chelsea target Anthony Gordon on the scoresheet, while Crystal Palace withstood a late barrage to hang on for a 1-1 draw with Brentford.
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