LAMPARD SHOULDERS THE BLAME

Chelsea star Frank Lampard has said that the players are very much responsible for the poor form shown by Chelsea in recent weeks, as is the manager Andre Villas-Boas.

It has been reported that Chelsea paid up to £ 25 million in order to secure the services of Portuguese manager Andre Villas-Boas in the summer.

However, the 34-year-old manager has struggled to cope up with the demands of dealing with some of the biggest players and characters in the world.

As a result, Chelsea are now fighting to finish in the top four, which is a situation that exactly resulted in the sacking of Brazilian manager Scolari.

Andre Villas-Boas has come under intense criticism after failing to help Chelsea stay in touch with the title race between Manchester City and Manchester United. Chelsea lost their latest Premier League match at the hands of Everton.

Following the match, Andre Villas-Boas accepted the blame for the defeat. His tactics in recent matches has come under intense criticism, but Frank Lampard has said that the players should also share the responsibility of the blame. Chelsea were devoid of any creativity in the match. Frank Lampard had one of the best chances in the match, but failed to convert it.

"Of course we do, it's a group thing. It was a bad performance from start to finish. When you come to Everton, the one thing you know they're going to do is fight you, press you and make things tough and we didn't react to that. We created two or three chances and that's not up to standard," Frank Lampard told Chelsea TV.

As a result of this defeat, Chelsea have now slipped out of the top four after Arsenal have sneaked into their place. The latest football betting makes them slim favourites to qualify for the Champions League, though they have some work to do - they are now 10 points behind third placed Tottenham.