"He screwed it", "Been so clumsy" - Frank Leboeuf slams Chelsea duo after Blues' defeat to Aston Villa
Former Chelsea star Frank Leboeuf has lambasted Raheem Sterling and Enzo Fernandez after the Blues' disappointing defeat to Aston Villa on Sunday, September 24.
The West London outfit suffered a 1-0 loss to Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League. Mauricio Pochettino's side went down to ten men after Malo Gusto picked up a red card in the 58th minute.
Subsequently, Ollie Watkins got on the scoresheet for Unai Emery's side in the 73rd minute, securing all three points for Villa.
Following the encounter, Leboeuf has launched an astonishing rant on a number of Chelsea players, including Fernandez and Sterling. The Frenchman criticized almost the entire squad for their lackluster ability to find the back of the net.
Leboeuf said on ESPN (as quoted by Football365):
“After that, Enzo Fernandez is not a top scorer, he showed it again, he had a possibility and he screwed it. Raheem Sterling has never been a top scorer. He has been so clumsy in front of the goal, but he does have other qualities."
Chelsea signed Fernandez from Benfica in the January transfer window for a then-British record fee of £106.8 million. The Argentine midfielder has made 29 appearances across all competitions for the Blues so far, recording a goal and two assists.
Meanwhile, Sterling left Manchester City last summer to join the ranks at Chelsea for £47.5 million. The England international failed to live up to the hype, scoring just six goals during the 2022-23 Premier League campaign.
However, he has had a good start to the current season, scoring two goals in six league appearances this term.
"They don’t know how to score a goal!" - Frank Leboeuf lambasts three more Chelsea stars in astonishing rant
Leboeuf went on to completely pick apart three more Chelsea stars, including Thiago Silva, Nicolas Jackson, and Mykhailo Mudryk.
The Blues signed striker Jackson in the summer for £30 million from Villarreal as he has scored just one goal ni six games.
They secured Mudryk's services from FC Shakhtar Donetsk for £88.5 million. The winger has failed to earn the love of his club's supporters as he has not lived up to his price tag. The Ukraine international has not scored a goal in 20 Premier League games for Chelsea.
Leboeuf slammed the Chelsea trio and said:
“I’m very surprised that you have some players that have been playing for, for the youngest, maybe 15 years in football, and then some others maybe 20 years or 25 years, for Thiago Silva 30 years – and yet they don’t know how to score a goal!"
He added:
“That surprises me a lot, and I’ve seen so many possibilities for them to score goals and they didn’t. Nicolas Jackson has a future, but last year he was struggling until the other striker from Villarreal got injured so he came on. Mykhailo Mudryk we don’t know what he’s worth because he just came from nowhere for £100million [sic]."
The west London side are 14th in the league with one win, two draws and three defeats so far, having scored just five goals in six games.