Glenn Hoddle insists Chelsea “don’t look the same team without” Thiago Silva on the pitch after he went off injured in their 2-0 loss at Tottenham.
The struggling Blues lost out after Spurs midfielder Oliver Skipp smashed home his first goal for the club 20 seconds into the second period before fellow academy graduate Harry Kane wrapped up the win with his 18th Premier League goal of the season eight minutes from time.
Defeat increases the pressure on Graham Potter, who has only one win from his last 11 matches and saw Chelsea fall 14 points behind Tottenham in the top-four race.
Silva appeared to injure his left knee when he tackled Kane in the first half and the Brazilian centre-back had to be subsituted.
Any serious injury would be a big blow to Chelsea with Hoddle insisting that the Blues weren’t “the same team” after the veteran left the field.
“They lack that punch. They lack that punch in and around the 18-yard box,” Hoddle told Premier League Productions.
“They started the game okay, first 10, 15 minutes they came out and were the better team.
“But no, there’s not that little bit of magic there, they’ve got good players, very good players, but are they gelling as a team? No, they’re not. And they’ve got to have more end product.
“When their elder statesman, Thiago Silva, goes off, to me, they don’t look the same team without him.”
Asked if the Chelsea players were still behind Potter, former Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood replied: “I think in the first 10 minutes they were very good, they were very confident, they were popping it around, I was thinking, ‘this could be a very difficult afternoon’.
“As soon as they went behind in the second half that’s when you need people to stand up and show you’re performing for the shirt.
“I never saw that, I really didn’t see that, I thought they lacked effort, they lacked a plan, it was just hope, it was just can one of those world-class players turn it around?
“They just got dominated from start to finish. I think Tottenham had more of a game plan, more of a structure, more will power, unfortunately it was a really poor performance from Chelsea.
“I think it lacked that desire, you could sense it in here, the Chelsea fans left before the end, 10, 15 minutes before the end they were going home. You don’t see that from Chelsea fans, they couldn’t be bothered to stand and boo the team, they just left.”
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