Former Man Utd and England defender Gary Neville (Picture: Getty)
Gary Neville has urged Chelsea to sign three ‘top-class’ players after a frustrating Premier League defeat to Arsenal.
Chelsea’s first wobble under new boss Liam Rosenior continued on Sunday with the Blues suffering a 2-1 defeat at the Emirates Stadium.
Rosenior’s side looked marginally on top in the second half after Piero Hincapie’s own goal cancelled out William Saliba’s early opener.
But Jurrien Timber scored Arsenal’s winner following another mistake from Robert Sanchez and Chelsea were unable to respond after losing Pedro Neto to a red card.
While Arsenal restored their five-point lead at the top of the Premier League, a third straight game without a win leaves Chelsea sixth in the table, six points outside the top-four places.
Neville says he ‘still can’t work Chelsea out’ but is adamant they need more ‘experience’ in three key areas of the pitch.
‘I’ve never commentated on a team that make me feel so many different emotions during a single game,’ former Manchester United and England defender Neville said on his Sky Sports podcast.
Your football fix
Metro’s Head of Sport James Goldman delivers punchy analysis, transfer talk and his take on the week’s biggest stories direct to your inbox every week.
Sign up here, it’s an open goal.
Chelsea lost 2-1 to Arsenal (Picture: Getty)
‘You can watch them and think they’re naive, they’re too nice, they’re ill-disciplined or that they’re electric, they’re a great possession team and they’re so talented.
‘You can think so many different things. I flip between thinking they’re miles away and thinking if they can get a goalkeeper, an experienced centre-back and an experienced centre-forward they could be in business.
‘They have to keep players fit but they need a top-class goalkeeper, a top-class centre-back with experience and a top-class centre forward to accompany Joao Pedro and Liam Delap, not to replace them.
{“@context”:”https://schema.org”,”@type”:”VideoObject”,”name”:”Rosenior scratching his head after Chelsea’s 2-1 loss to Arsenal”,”duration”:”T6M6S”,”thumbnailUrl”:”https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2026/03/02/10/106797563-0-image-a-1_1772447881301.jpg”,”uploadDate”:”2026-03-02T10:41:13+0000″,”description”:”Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior tells media his team ‘have to take accountability’ for their run of red cards after Pedro Neto was dismissed in his side’s 2-1 loss to Arsenal away in the Premier League on Sunday.”,”contentUrl”:”https://videos.metro.co.uk/video/met/2026/03/02/1676128627305722266/480x270_MP4_1676128627305722266.mp4″,”height”:270,”width”:480}
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
Up Next
Previous Page
Next Page
window.addEventListener(‘metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded’, function(data) {
if (typeof(data.detail) === ‘undefined’ || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === ‘undefined’ || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === ‘undefined’) {
return;
}
var player = data.detail.carousel.el_;
var container = player.closest(‘.metro-video-player’);
var placeholder = container.querySelector(‘.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder’);
if (placeholder) {
container.removeChild(placeholder);
container.classList.add(‘metro-video-player–related-videos-loaded’);
}
});
‘Have three strikers – Pedro who is very good, Delap who is young with potential – and then bring someone in. I know that’s difficult – these players are not there, but they need a centre-forward with experience.
‘I’m not talking about a 33-year-old striker but someone who is 27 or 28 and the same at the back, a player who has real presence who can give them some solidity.
‘I’m going to talk about the goalkeeper as well because Robert Sanchez invites problems, every time I watch him my heart is in my mouth.
@metrosportuk Chelsea have MORE red cards than home league wins 🫣 After Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1, we talked about the Blues’ shocking discipline this season — they’ve now received nine red cards, including one for their former manager. Arsenal, meanwhile, have equalled the Premier League record for the most goals scored from corners in a single campaign. #ARSENAL #premierleague #arsenalvschelsea #wwe #chelsea ♬ original sound – Metro Sport – Metro Sport
‘He flaps at the Arsenal goal so for me Chelsea are three players short, they need players in those positions.
‘I’ve got many thoughts about Chelsea and I still can’t quite work them out.’
Rosenior was frustrated with both Chelsea’s defending at set-pieces and their disciplinary issues after the defeat at Arsenal.
‘I’m really frustrated with the end result,’ he said. ‘A lot of good things in our game but we were undone by two set pieces like we were against Burnley last week.
‘There were some outstanding performance. Technically and tactically but we were undone by moments. Same as against Burnley and against Leeds.
‘I don’t want to push the league leaders very hard. We’re Chelsea, we want to win games of football.
‘Between both boxes, we were very, very good. I felt we were the better team by far in the second half but we weren’t ruthless in the moment.’
Chelsea face another huge game on Wednesday night as they visit top-four rivals Aston Villa, who suffered a shock defeat to bottom-placed Wolves last time out.
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Comment now
Comments
Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google
Add as preferred source
