"Ronaldo said it at Man United as well" - Pundit recalls Cristiano Ronaldo statement while slamming Chelsea players for their attitude

Former West Ham United forward Frank McAvennie has criticized the mentality of some Chelsea players, drawing on comments made by Cristiano Ronaldo earlier this season.

Prior to leaving Manchester United last year, Ronaldo stated the problem with some of the younger players in the squad. The Portuguese superstar said in his now infamous interview with British broadcaster Piers Morgan (as quoted by GOAL):

"It's a little bit shame [young players don't follow] because if they have the best examples in front of their eyes, and if they don't at least copy what you did, for me, it's kind of weird...

"They don't care [about playing with me], some yes but most of them no. But for me it's not surprising because they're not going to have longevity [in their] careers. It's impossible."

McAvennie believes Chelsea have a similar mentality issue, partly due to having so many players in their squad. The size of the roster was also questioned by Blues defender Thiago Silva following their UEFA Champions League exit at the hands of Real Madrid earlier this month.

McAvennie told Football Insider:

“It is not good having that many players. They have had to make the dressing room bigger plus they have lots of players on loan. It is embarrassing. Unfortunately in modern day football they do not care about the club, they only care about themselves.”

The footballer-turned-pundit added:

“Ronaldo said it at Man United as well, that is not a good indictment. It just shows you the mentality of players when somebody like Silva is addressing it. Sometimes people go to big clubs like Chelsea and think they have made it so they stop caring and that is not right.

“Frank Lampard is not going to have time to weed out the ones that don’t want to be there but whoever comes in needs to get players out the door.”

Interim boss Frank Lampard has overseen only four matches so far and will have at most only seven more matches before the season comes to a close. He is unlikely to be able to effect too much change at Chelsea, with the bulk of the responsibility falling on the boardroom and their next manager.

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Mauricio Pochettino is reportedly the leading candidate to become Chelsea manager

Chelsea's search for their next permanent manager has grabbed headlines over the past couple of weeks.

Their interest has primarily been in Mauricio Pochettino, Julian Nagelsmann and Luis Enrique, as per various reports. However, Nagelsmann pulled out of the race, according to transfer news specialist Fabrizio Romano, while Enrique was never the favorite.

Romano has also confirmed that Pochettino is the frontrunner to take over at Stamford Bridge. He even reported on Monday (April 24) that conversations between the Blues and the former Tottenham Hotspur boss are set to enter "crucial stages."

Meanwhile, on the field, Chelsea will take on Brentford in their next Premier League match on Wednesday, April 26, at Stamford Bridge.