Pressure is mounting on Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri after their defeat at home to Manchester United in the FA Cup on Monday.
The holders were beaten 2-0 at Stamford Bridge and chants from Blues fans in the second half were damning, questioning 'Sarri ball', chanting 'sacked in the morning' and jeering the Italian's substitutions.
It was the fifth time the west Londoners have lost in their last 10 games in all competitions - with the Blues failing to score in all of those defeats.
Maurizio Sarri unconcerned about his Chelsea future
Sarri's side looked lost at times as they were outplayed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's United, who took the lead through Ander Herrera before Paul Pogba continued his red-hot start to 2019 by adding another before the interval, both from defensive lapses.
The former Napoli boss looked defeated on the touchline and his decision to replace Cesar Azpilicueta with Davide Zappacosta late on particularly proved unpopular with the home crowd.
Chelsea, currently sixth in the Premier League, are now to finish in the top four this season.
They must now prepare for their Europa League last 32 second leg clash at home to Malmo, where they lead 2-1 on aggregate, before facing Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday, just two weeks after losing 6-0 at the Etihad.
Whether Sarri is still in charge by the time Chelsea go to Wembley remains to be seen, but as of Tuesday morning the 60-year-old was expected to take charge of training as normal.
- See what pundits had to say about Sarri and his current situation below...
Verdict
Playing N'Golo Kante out of a position, away from a role in which he was instrumental in winning two Premier League trophies (for Leicester and Chelsea) and the World Cup with France, has been an instrumental error this season with preference to Jorginho. Changes in the centre of the park from a new man on Sunday could see Chelsea reap the benefits.
Modern day football is guilty of acting too rashly, but Chelsea fans turning on Sarri on Monday could be most damning and it is difficult to go back from that.
The Blues privately insist Gianfranco Zola, Sarri's assistant, will not be in caretaker charge for the rest of the season.
However, if Sarri goes, necessity may dictate the former Blues playmaker, who struggled in management with Watford, West Ham and Birmingham, is in charge for at least a short period while a longer-term solution is found.
Making a change is probably inevitable, so acting before the final, with new ideas against a free-flowing Man City side, could give Chelsea hope of winning. That would be harsh on the man who guided them to this stage, but that's football.
Odds correct as of 1250 GMT on 19/02/19