Football: Gullit bemoans slack defending

Ruud Gullit questioned the ability of his Chelsea superstars to stay in the Premiership title race after witnessing a yesterday's 3-1 defeat at Everton.

"We were looking to close the gap on [Manchester] United but when you play like this you don't deserve to be at this level," the Chelsea manager said. "Maybe I am asking too much of them, I don't know. We are always looking to improve our squad, but it must not be forgotten that we have made giant strides here in a short time.

"Now people demand a high level of performance week after week. They demand you win every game when they didn't used to. Some players are not used to it, even though they are trying their best. You need experience. We do have that but many of the players were not there today for various reasons, although I'm not making that an excuse.

"Everton deserved to win it. I do not see them going down and I am surprised they are in this position. Their second goal, Duncan Ferguson's header, was dreadful for us. At this level you can't allow someone five yards out to have a free header from a corner."