Emmanuel Petit witnessed 'shocking' scenes in Chelsea dugout during Arsenal defeat

Emmanuel Petit says he was "very shocked" at what he witnessed on the Chelsea bench during their 3-1 defeat to Arsenal.

The former France international, who spent three years at Arsenal and Chelsea respectively during his 16-year playing career, was sat "quite close" to the away dugout on Tuesday night.

He watched on as Frank Lampard's side conceded three times in 34 minutes against the Premier League leaders after goals from Martin Odegaard [2] and Gabriel Jesus.

And during that torrid first-half for the Blues, a "shocked" Petit picked up on the attitude and body language of Chelsea players as they watched their teammates struggle.

Speaking to Premier League Productions, the 52-year-old said: "I was quite close to the Chelsea bench and I saw some of the players having arguments between them in the second half especially.

"I was very shocked in the first half the attitude of the players, the body language, no response, no pride, no unity, no friendship.

"I was thinking you could put 20 managers on the bench and it won't change anything at all at the moment."

Petit added: "They need to clear something in the dressing room first and then think about the manager afterwards. You can put the best manager on the bench now and he doesn't get the right answer, there are too many players.

"It's a mess and it was embarrassing to watch Chelsea in the first half and I feel sorry for the fans."

Image credit: Alamy

Petit's former international teammate Frank Leboeuf went on to accuse Chelsea players of 'dirtying the image of the club' after their 3-1 defeat in North London.

Summing up their outing against top of the league Arsenal, he said: "Shameful, disgraceful, pitiful.

"I don't know if the players understand what they are doing right now. On top of dirtying the image of the club, they are dirtying their own image. What they are showing is the worst in the world of football.

'You can be bad, everybody can be bad, everyone has been bad — that can happen. But when you show no character, no commitment in what you are trying to do, it shows that you are unprofessional.

"The players have shown to the world that they don't deserve the Chelsea shirt. I make a difference between club and team. The club is a big club. The team is a shambles, a shame of that club.

"I wanted to turn off the TV, I was that ashamed."

Thoughts on Chelsea's performance against Arsenal on Tuesday night? Do you agree with the above?

Let us know in the comments.

Topics: Chelsea, Arsenal, Premier League

Jack Kenmare

Senior Journalist at SPORTbible with a passion for long-form journalism. Almost 10 years’ experience across online and print.

@jackkenmare_