Fabregas: Players Must Justify Our Big Wages

Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas has criticised his fellow team-mates and suggested they need to start playing like ‘big players’ in order to justify their ‘big wages’.

In the wake of the defending Premier League champions’ 2-1 loss to Leicester City at the weekend, Fabregas has confessed that Jose Mourinho was right to feel ‘betrayed’ by his players and that the Blues need to do much better in the future.

Fabregas said, “If you are a big player and paid like a big player, you must play like a big player and behave like a big player. I am not saying you can’t have a bad season and bad games but the attitude must be spot on. We must always be at the top of our games and the behaviour has to be better than what we are seeing right now from every single Chelsea player”.

With Mourinho coming under increasing pressure after Chelsea lost their ninth game of the season, former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin suggested that the self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ was wrong to suggest that the club are not going to be involved in a relegation battle. He told BBC Radio 5 live, “You have to be realistic about relegation. Absolutely do not ignore it. When you lack confidence, that can spread through the team and it all can go against you. I don’t think they’ll go down, but don’t bury your head in the sand. It’s a possibility, so don’t ignore it. I didn’t think they’d be down there after 16 games. What about 20 games? What about 23 or 24? Then you start thinking about it”.

Midfielder Fabregas refused to be drawn on the issue when he was featured during a Facebook question and answer session and said, “Right now is not the time to think of where we might finish”.

Should Chelsea lose to Sunderland this weekend then they will replace the Black Cats in the relegation zone and Mourinho’s position will become almost untenable. Historically teams that have had just 15 points after their first 16 games have finished in an average position of 17th, meaning that the Blues will have to have a phenomenal finish to the campaign if they hope to avoid getting involved in a battle at the bottom of the table.