Ten Chelsea players stood still, hands on their hips and heads tipped towards the ground or up at the sky. Iliman Ndiaye sprinted with his team-mates to the stands, having just nestled the pick of Everton’s three unanswered goals into the top-right corner of Robert Sanchez’s goal.
The only Chelsea player really moving was Estevao. He ran back through Chelsea’s half, beyond Sanchez, to pull the ball from the net, and all the way back to place it in front of Cole Palmer on the centre circle.
For an 18-year-old who has only been at Chelsea since last summer, and who had only been back on the pitch for six minutes after more than a month out injured, to be the player trying the hardest to rally the troops should make his team-mates uncomfortable. When they needed leadership and unity most, there was none to be seen on the pitch at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Iliman Ndiaye scores Everton’s third goal (Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
Much of the 3-0 defeat echoed familiar errors from earlier this season. The ease with which Everton opened up their defence with direct play for their first and third goals, and Sanchez’s error for the second, are all established problems. Their wastefulness in front of goal was a continued theme of their past few games.
Yet the factor that stood out most on Saturday was how Chelsea seemed to completely lose the belief that they could respond to those errors, and not one player stepped up to pull the side together.
“If you are in a difficult run of games against big teams, your energy levels and your confidence levels can drop if the other team scores first, and that’s what happened,” head coach Liam Rosenior said after the match. “It’s about flow and momentum, and we didn’t have that in the game today.”
Chelsea had been improving, at least slightly, in how they responded to setbacks. Rosenior’s side came from behind to win 4-1 at Aston Villa in March and equalised twice before collapsing late on in the first leg of their Champions League tie at Paris Saint-Germain.
They needed to show character more than ever against Everton. After suffering a humbling 8-2 aggregate defeat by PSG, Liverpool’s loss at Brighton & Hove Albion earlier on Saturday had given them the chance to climb back into the top five.
But they showed no conviction. The opening 20 minutes saw pass after pass misplaced, and Chelsea were fortunate not to go behind in the 10th minute after Sanchez had his pocket picked by Beto and Moises Caicedo had to rush in to sweep up. An improved passage followed, only for Beto to latch onto a through ball from James Garner, pull away from Wesley Fofana, and chip Everton ahead.
𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝟑-𝟎 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐚
Two goals and an assist from Beto gave Everton a big home win over Chelsea, who have now lost four in a row in all comps.
The Toffees are up to seventh and now sit just three points off fifth place.#EVECHE pic.twitter.com/2HZEZvCHr2
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) March 21, 2026
At this point, with Chelsea having just begun to exert some influence in the game, calm heads ought to have prevailed. It was an opportunity for senior figures, such as captain Enzo Fernandez, to pull the team together for a discussion as Everton celebrated.
Instead, Chelsea’s players stood scattered around their half, looking disconsolate and frustrated. For a team who recently put so much stock in the uniting value of a pre-match huddle, it was surprising that after none of Everton’s three goals did any Chelsea player pull the squad together to analyse what was going wrong, and how they could respond.
Yes, Chelsea’s players are likely fatigued after a long season that was preceded by their Club World Cup triumph. Yes, Rosenior must take some responsibility for this defeat. But a squad featuring a World Cup winner in Fernandez, a European Champion in Marc Cucurella, and plenty of other seasoned professionals for club and country should be capable of showing some initiative and self-direction on the pitch.
Nobody was coordinating that effort. Shortly after conceding one of the goals, Palmer and Joao Pedro were under each other’s feet as they looked to get on the ball; Fernandez and Cucurella, who should be two of Chelsea’s most dependable heads, were distracted by a spat with Ndiaye in the 83rd minute.
It was a stark contrast with Everton, who were communicative and confident, to the point where David Moyes voiced disappointment that the international break came at a moment that would disrupt his team’s momentum. They looked like an organised and cohesive unit. Chelsea looked like a group of individuals.
Who are the leaders Chelsea can look to to step up at the moment? Captain Reece James and centre-back Trevoh Chalobah are injured. Fernandez appeared to cast doubt on his future at the club on Tuesday, and a clip from a separate interview that has since gained traction on social media sees him asked about former head coach Enzo Maresca’s departure.
“Enzo (Maresca) had a very clear identity when it came to training, playing, and obviously it hurt us a lot his departure, moreover in the middle of the season that it cut everything off,” Fernandez said.
Rosenior was not asked specifically about that interview, but said in his pre-match press conference on Thursday that he had a “great” conversation with Fernandez where the midfielder reaffirmed his commitment to the club, and that his meaning might have been misconstrued in translation. He also praised Fernandez’s work ethic in the match against Everton after a question about whether, in the context of Fernandez’s comments, players were “working at their best level”.
“I don’t think there’s a lack of effort. I don’t think there’s a lack of belief or determination in the team,” Rosenior said. “In fact, I felt like Enzo kept going until the very, very last minute today.”
Chelsea’s players after the defeat by Everton (Visionhaus/Getty Images)
Perhaps Fernandez’s exact meaning was misconstrued, but his comments are still unhelpful at a time when he is wearing the armband in James’ place and needs to be stepping up as a figurehead of belief in the team.
Beyond him, Cucurella, Palmer, and Caicedo, all core players for Chelsea, have not been performing to their usual levels.
“I don’t think there’s a lack of effort. I don’t think there’s a lack of belief or determination in the team,” Rosenior said.
“The international break has come at a good time for us because hopefully those players get a change. Most of them have to fly across the world and play for their countries, but maybe a reset, maybe some time away to re-gather their thoughts and have a different environment, and come back may refresh the group.”
A temporary change of environment might help. But as they enter a tough final run of fixtures, including Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool, Chelsea have never needed their players to show leadership more. Right now, it is hard to see who is stepping up.