Calum McFarlane was guilty of showing Manchester City too much respect in Chelsea FA Cup final defeat, according to Steven Gerrard.
Pep Guardiola’s side completed a domestic cup double after Antoine Semenyo’s inventive flick in the 72nd minute proved the difference at Wembley.
Chelsea, under the stewardship of their caretaker manager, battled manfully and restricted City to just a few fleeting glimpses of goal but rarely threatened at the other end.
A five-man defence proved effective in stifling City’s attacking players and even the introduction of Rayan Cherki for Omar Marmoush at half-time failed to spark the favourites into life.
Semenyo’s stroke of inspiration, however, changed the complexion of the game but Gerrard felt McFarlane was too slow to react, only switching to a back four in the closing stages.
‘You’ve got to give Calum a lot of credit for that, they nulified this City team for large parts,’ Gerrard to TNT Sport.
‘I think if it stays like this though he will question himself. Should he have went to the four a little bit quicker when the game was in the balance.
‘Should he have backed his players and his team a little bit more. Maybe they had too much respect for Man City.’
As Chelsea’s squad went up the Wembley steps to collect their runners-up medals, he added: ‘It was a missed opportunity. I think they can be proud of the effort and performance.
‘The manager set them up in the right way, you have to give City respect. You can’t go toe to toe if you’re not as good as them they’ll hurt you even more.
‘There’s definitely a lot of questions at board level and the fans want answers. They need to attract an elite manager to coach these talented players they’ve bought.
‘They need a centre half to compliment Colwill.’
Gerrard’s TNT colleague Ally McCoist concurred, adding: ‘They did OK today. In the grand scheme of things they’ve had a terrible end to the season.
‘What is it? Six defeats in a row and one goal. They were slightly better at Liverpool but I didn’t think they were brilliant in the semi-final and they were alright again today.
‘I don’t think they did enough to go and win the game.
‘I wouldn’t let the three average performances gloss over a poor end to the season.’