Troy Deeney slams one Chelsea player for showing ‘no desire’ and failing to sprint as Fulham scored their winner

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Chelsea’s festive slump continued on Boxing Day after throwing away a lead in the surprise defeat at home to local rivals Fulham.

Despite Cole Palmer’s stunning goal to put Chelsea in front, they conceded twice in the second half to suffer a 2-1 loss against Fulham. Rodrigo Muniz’s winning goal in the 95th minute earned the visitors all three points in the Premier League fixture at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca only made one substitution against Fulham, which looks like a mistake when reflecting on the contest. The Blues travel to Ipswich Town on Monday night for their next match, so they’ve not go long to wait to try put things right.

Maresca has frequently said that his team are not in a title race this season, something that looks more vindicated with dropped points against Everton and Fulham in the last week.

• READ MORE: The Premier League statistic Cole Palmer now leads in 2024 after his Chelsea goal vs Fulham

Troy Deeney rips into Levi Colwill

BBC pundit Troy Deeney delivered some harsh criticism after Chelsea conceded the late goal to Fulham. In particular, he spotted that Blues defender Levi Colwill, 21, didn’t sprint back to help out his team in the transition.

Deeney said on BBC Final Score (4:56pm, 26 December):”It’s so poor from Chelsea defensively. Levi Colwill doesn’t even break into sprint and has no desire to get back. It is well played from Fulham. They’ve planned for this and he’s got the goal.”

In general, Colwill has been outstanding in defence this year as a commanding centre-back. Chelsea’s Colwill is currently one of the most valuable Under-21 players in the Premier League.

However, Deeney raises a fair point that Colwill was lazy in jogging back when Fulham countered in stoppage time. It looks even worse than they went on and scored the winning goal from that move, too.

How did Levi Colwill play in Chelsea defeat?

Chelsea’s loss against Fulham was just their third league defeat of the 2024/25 season.

In terms of Colwill’s performance, he actually showed some great moments on and of the ball. Of course, fans will remember his contribution for the wrong reasons after failing to get back and help for Fulham’s winning goal.

As you can see above, Colwill impressed with the ball at his feet. The left-footed centre-half is always so composed and accurate with his pass selection.

Tim Sherwood has noticed big improvements in Chelsea’s Colwill after watching him this season, so there’s no doubt he’s heading in the right direction. But if he’s going to grow into one of the world’s elite defenders, he’s got to be switched on for the entire game.