Alonso urges Chelsea to hit back in Spurs showdown

Marcos Alonso has challenged his Chelsea team-mates to prove they are motivated to arrest their alarming slide in Thursday's League Cup semi-final showdown against Tottenham.

Furious with the latest in a growing list of punchless displays, Blues boss Maurizio Sarri launching a scathing attack on his Chelsea stars after Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Arsenal.

Questioning their mental strength and revealing he finds it "extremely difficult" to motivate his players, Sarri risked alienating a squad that had already rebelled against his predecessor Antonio Conte last season.

The Italian's blast was entirely understandable after so many tepid efforts from Chelsea this term.

But Sarri must shoulder some of the blame himself after making a pair of tactical decisions that have contributed to Chelsea's malaise.

Deploying Eden Hazard as a central striker has neutered the Belgian playmaker, who has been far more effective in his natural wide role.

That move was born out of Sarri's frustration at the misfiring form of his other forwards Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud.

The former Napoli boss hopes to sign his old striker Gonzalo Higuain later this week, but that isn't his only problem.

Since bringing Jorginho with him from Napoli, Sarri has felt compelled to use the midfielder in the holding role previously occupied so effectively by N'Golo Kante.

Now Kante is a fish out of water on the right side of a three-man midfield, leaving him tasked with attacking duties that aren't his strength.

Making matters worse, Jorginho is becoming a target for frustrated Chelsea fans after failing to live up to his reputation as the man who makes his manager's 'Sarri-ball' vision come to life.

Sarri reportedly called a clear-the-air meeting with his squad on Monday in a bid to resolve any lingering bad feeling after his remarkably blunt assessment of their performances.

- 'Silly mistakes' -
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"We made silly mistakes. We provoked them to gain confidence and come to press us because we were making mistakes."