Mauricio Pochettino delivers damning assessment of Chelsea's shocking loss to Arsenal

Mauricio Pochettino delivered the understatement of the century with his admission that Chelsea's 5-0 defeat to Arsenal was «disappointing».

Chelsea trailed 1-0 at the break after a solid first 45 minutes, but four quick-fire goals after the break, including a double from former Blue Kai Havertz, created all sorts of chaos which left Chelsea limping to the final whistle.

Pochettino refused to offer any excuses for the performance, admitting Chelsea simply «gave up» when things started to get bad.

«It's not difficult to explain,» he told. «Everyone saw we didn't compete from the beginning of the game. After we concede I think the team was so soft. I'm so disappointed with the start because we're supposed to have full energy and compete better.

»We were not aggressive and we did not concentrate in situations where it is easy to find the solution. That is why we're so disappointed. We were talking at half-time to start in a different way. But we start really bad. In 10, 15 minutes in the second half, when we conceded the third goal we gave up. It was tough on them until the end of the game.

«We competed really well against Manchester City, it was a fantastic game. But then we did not compete three days later. Maybe we were not fresh.

»It's not fair to talk about the players we are missing. From the start of the season we have been missing so many players every single week. One team is competing for the Premier League. The other team is competing with all the circumstances we have. The team showed a lack of capacity to resist, that is what is the problem.

«Arsenal is a very good team. But I think we allowed them to play. We gave all the possibility to play and create chances [to them]. That is why we're so disappointed. In some