Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has slammed the performances of Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic following the club’s latest loss against Crystal Palace.

The blues have begun their title defence in very poor fashion after already conceding an eight point advantage to title rivals Manchester City. The 2-1 loss against Crystal Palace may only be the second loss suffered by Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge, but it is immense in the context of the league title even though the season is only four games old. Neville knows a thing or two about playing as right back after he did so spectacularly for several seasons with United.

Ivanovic was one of the best players for Chelsea in their title winning season. However, he has been at fault already on a number of occasions. The Serbian is seen as the weakest link in defence and it was not surprising that both goals scored by Crystal Palace were created from his mistakes. Mourinho said after the game that he is running out of patience with his established players and that he may change the team sooner rather than later. Due to the recent performances, Ivanovic’s future at the club has come under speculation. He has only 12 months left on his contract.

“They look absolutely knackered. They look absolutely shot to pieces. When watching someone who was probably the best right-back last season in Ivanovic at full back, it looks like he can’t move out towards the ball.He comes inside, the ball gets switched back out wide. Then he can’t get back out and he can’t get back in,” said Neville. Despite this latest setback, Mourinho refused to concede in the league title since it is an extremely tough league where all the teams dropped points over the course of the campaign.