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We must learn from 'annihilation' - Boss
Middlesbrough, 13:46, October 20, 2008 ,
Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate says his side must learn from Saturday's humiliating 5-0 defeat against Chelsea.
Boro failed to live with a rampant Chelsea side at the Riverside and, by Southgate's own admission, they were "annihilated" by Luiz Felipe Scolari's men.
However, Southgate says now it is important for everyone at the club to learn from the humbling defeat.
He said: "If you lose any game at home it's hard to take, but losing in that manner was a humbling experience for all of us. There is always a danger when you play a side like Chelsea that this sort of thing can happen.
"But Chelsea didn't even have to be at their best. They annihilated us. They made us look very poor. We fielded a very young side to have to compete at that level and it's true that we could have picked a different system with different personnel.
"But whatever we did, Chelsea were in a different league to us."
Southgate added in the Gazzette: "The problem was that we didn't help ourselves because we made a lot of bad mistakes. We were on the back foot and were edgy in possession. We were outclassed.
"As a manager I have to learn from it, but so have the players. The second goal rocked us completely. Our weaknesses were thoroughly exposed.
"But it was important that our players left the stadium hurting on Saturday because our fans were hurting after watching that.
"At the same time we have to maintain a sense of realism about what has happened. We were beaten by a team which is off a different level."