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Chelsea star Conor Gallagher responds to young fan's damning banner after Arsenal defeat
Conor Gallagher addressed the media after Chelsea were thrashed by Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
Conor Gallagher insists that Chelsea players 'are putting the effort in' after a young fan's banner called for the Blues to start 'fighting for the shirt'. Mauricio Pochettino's side were humbled against Premier League title chasers Arsenal on Tuesday night, leading to fresh criticism as they come to an end of a turbulent season.
Chelsea were looking to bounce back in north London after being knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester City on Saturday. But they were immediately put on the backfoot when Leandro Trossard scored inside four minutes.
Things went from bad, to worse, to catastrophic in an 18-minute second-half spell which saw Ben White and Kai Havertz each find the net twice. Mercifully, the Gunners then eased up as Chelsea finished the night 5-0 down, and with only one shot on target.
The Blues' performances have been wildly inconsistent for the past two seasons, with fans' patience being pushed to its limits. One young supporter was snapped holding aloft a banner which read: "I don't want your shirt!! I want you to want to fight for ours."
Watch all the Premier League and Champions League drama unfold on TNT Sports
A distraught Gallagher was asked after the final whistle what he made of fans feeling as though he and his team-mates are not giving it their all. "We definitely are putting the effort in," he told TNT Sports.
"I know how much it means to all the boys. It's been said many times, but we're a very young squad without much experience as a team in the Premier League. As you've seen this season we've had a lot of ups and downs.
"We're still improving and working together as a team to get to that next level. Today was one of those days where we were just nowhere near it and we need to dust ourselves off, but also look at the performance, where we can improve and all the mistakes we made to find out how we can put it right and get ready for the next one."
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Pochettino was unable to select Chelsea's talisman Cole Palmer due to injury, and he controversially opted to rest the centre-back pairing of Trevoh Chalobah and Thiago Silva, who gave City a tough time at Wembley.
The former Tottenham boss faces a fight to secure his future with only six games left to play in the Premier League. The Blues are ninth, and while European qualification is within reach, performances like Tuesday night's could see Todd Boehly swing the axe regardless.
"Now it is difficult to see the future because after this game we feel disappointed," Pochettino told TNT Sports. "It is difficult to talk about objectives. If we compete like Saturday, OK. But if we compete like today, do I think we deserve to go into Europe? I think in this way, no."