LONDON, March 10 (Reuters) - Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka said the players should take the blame for Saturday's FA Cup humiliation at Barnsley rather than manager Avram Grant.
The Israeli coach has admitted he is under the microscope again at Stamford Bridge after the 1-0 quarter-final loss in Yorkshire followed soon after the League Cup final defeat by Tottenham Hotspur.
'We knew it was going to be difficult because (Barnsley)
played with their lives and everyone in the dressing room was
determined to win this game. Sometimes in football, things go
wrong and you have to accept it,' Anelka, signed by Grant in
January, said on Monday.
'Barnsley played well and sometimes these results happen.
The tactics were right. Chelsea is a big club and we should be
better than this.
'The criticism must be about the players because we didn't
play well and we have to accept the fact. We know the media
will be after the manager but you know as players when you
played well and we didn't.'
Grant looked stunned after the defeat to the Championship
(second division) side, Chelsea's first against lower league
opposition since 1999.
'When I am responsible for the team and when my team loses
at Barnsley, there will be many negative things said about it,'
Grant was quoted as saying in Monday's Guardian.
'The team that played at Barnsley, even though we had a lot
injuries, was good enough to win.'
