Why Liam Rosenior shouted at Chelsea star after ignoring simple instruction in Brighton loss

Liam Rosenior was far from pleased with his players' performances when Brighton stormed past Chelsea at the Amex Stadium on Tuesday night.

Liam Rosenior was heard shouting at Pedro Neto during Chelsea's defeat to Brighton. The 26-year-old winger was one of several players to disappoint at the Amex Stadium on Tuesday night as Fabian Hurzeler's side cruised past the Blues.

Ferdi Kadıoğlu broke the deadlock inside the opening five minutes, blasting the ball past Robert Sanchez from close range following a corner. Although Neto wasn't tasked with marking the Seagulls defender, he made little to no effort to block the strike.

Chelsea were fortunate to only be 1-0 down at the break thanks to Trevoh Chalobah, who cleared the ball off the line a quarter of an hour later. Shortly into the second half, the Blues had an opportunity to catch Brighton on the counter-attack.

Romeo Lavia clipped the ball down the right-hand side, unleashing Neto to set up a two-versus-three. With Liam Delap occupying the two centre-halves, the Portugal international found himself one-versus-one with the opposition full-back.

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As Neto brought the ball under control and raced in-field, Rosenior was heard shouting, 'take him on, take him on,' from the sidelines. But by the time that the Chelsea winger had entered the 18-yard box, the Brighton cavalry had arrived on the scene, extinguishing the attack.

Rather than listen to his head coach, Neto turned around and passed the ball to Moises Caicedo, who was stood close to 40-yards from goal. Although the Seagulls eventually doubled up, the Portuguese forward's decision to ignore Rosenior spoke volumes about the current state of affairs at Stamford Bridge.

The moment that Neto turned his back would have been one of several moments that disappointed the Chelsea boss. Speaking to reporters after the game, Rosenior slammed the players for an 'unacceptable' performance.

He said: "In the basics, in the pride that you should have in wearing the shirt, that was unacceptable. I've defended the players and I am accountable. I've always said that.

"After tonight, I think the players as well need to have a look in the mirror for what they put in. You can talk about tactics, tactics come after the basics.

"Having more courage to play, winning duels, winning headers, tackles, conceding terrible goals. That was an unacceptable performance tonight."

Rosenior added: "Today was the complete opposite [to the defeat against Manchester United at the weekend] in every aspect. That's the hardest thing for me to take right now.

"It's very soon after the game. I'm an emotional person. That's just unacceptable. The word is unacceptable. We lost 80 per cent of duels. We didn't win a header.

"Two of the goals come when we can head the ball, the basics of football, and we don't. At any level, if you make those errors and lack of engagement to the game, you're not going to win games of football."