the Chelsea News
·28 April 2026
“Not playing for that badge” – Former Aston Villa manager rips into Chelsea players

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Yahoo sportsthe Chelsea News
·28 April 2026

Former Tottenham and Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood has been ripping into the Chelsea players after the Leeds win.
Yes, I said AFTER the win. But Sherwood thinks the players were lucky to win that game and go into the FA Cup final, due to some big saves from Robert Sanchez who did bail them out in fairness.
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But what we saw was an improved desire and mentality from Chelsea’s players. They ran more, tried harder, and just looked more up for it than they have done many times this season.
Sherwood is questioning whether we will now see that in the final though against Manchester City.
In words quoted on SPTC today, Sherwood said on Sky Sports:
“[Chelsea] won [against Leeds] because [Robert] Sanchez made two fantastic saves, by the way, it was a nothing game. I mean, yes, they won. Credit to him [Calum McFarlane].
“Let’s hope them players who turned up yesterday want to turn up in the cup final. Because you never know. You can’t rely on them whether they want to turn up wherever they don’t possibly, because there’s a cup final.
“It’s a show piece that they want to turn up. If Man City score after five minutes, there might be a few of them not wanting to turn up too much. And then they go, two or three, kneel down. Are they playing the same way? Then I would say, I’ve watched them all season, a lot of them would like want to come off the pitch or not want to run around as much and want to protect themselves for the World Cup, which is coming up.
“They’re not playing for that badge. Not 100% all of the time playing for the badge. They’re not.
“If they were, they’ll be in a better league position, not where they are at the moment, and you would not get performances like we saw at the Amex. Absolute disgrace!”
In the new manager hunt, sources all over are reporting that Chelsea have made contact with Andoni Iraola – and the reasons for that are pretty obvious.
Liam Rosenior called out his players after his last game in charge – and in many ways was proved right by their performance yesterday. Trevoh Chalobah has shrugged off these criticisms.
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