Mauricio Pochettino after Chelsea are hammered 5-0 by Arsenal: When we have bad days, we are so bad

Mauricio Pochettino criticised his Chelsea team after their 5-0 hammering at Arsenal, declaring: "When we have bad days, we are so bad."

The chastening defeat - the club's heaviest in a London derby since 1986 - following an FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester City at Wembley on Saturday, dented their hopes of salvaging a European spot from a bitterly disappointing season.

Pochettino's men made the short trip across the capital without 20-goal top scorer Cole Palmer due to illness.

Pochettino said: "We are showing this inconsistency and that is why we are where we are. We are able to have an amazing performance [against Man City] and then one like this. When we have bad days, we are so bad.

"It's difficult to talk. We are talking after last season in the same way.

"We put in a fantastic performance at Wembley and then today, you can lose a game at Arsenal but in the way we competed, why one day, three days ago and then today in this way?

"For the circumstance, we needed to make changes for different reasons. Then it is about consistency."

On being unable to select Palmer and whether that was a factor in the result, Pochettino added: "It wasn't the reason we lost the game but you lose such a creative player that helps to play in the lines. It's difficult to lose players in these circumstances - that made the management very difficult. But today was more than that.

"We didn't compete from the beginning and it was difficult to be in the game against a team fighting for the Premier League. It's no coincidence. We need to compete in a different way but we are talking too much during this season. All the information we receive - we want to be in a different position next season. We need to take decisions."

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta