This time there wasn't even an apology. After all, it's easier to make those following a win. Chelsea are starting to forget what they actually are.

Since the last Conference League group match - a 5-1 pummelling of Shamrock Rovers - the team has been on a slide. It is now 10 games, three victories, four defeats, and the rest in disappointing draws.

The weekly confidence-boosting goal fests from European football have dried up. Taking those out - because this expensive Chelsea side are not judged on beating that level of opposition - and Enzo Maresca has won 14 of his 28 games in charge. Two of those have been against League Two sides in the domestic cups.

Against Premier League teams in all competitions, he has won 12 of 26, losing seven. That is a less impressive picture. It is one now starting to grate on supporters who only two months ago were chanting that they had their Chelsea back.

Most will have been happy with the fourth place standing by the first week of February, but the drop into a genuine dogfight for Champions League football, as well as the general erosion in form, has seen things change. The manner of wins over Wolves and West Ham (17th and 15th, respectively) only adds to the apprehension and angst.

Even the third-round demolition of Morecambe came with the caveat that the first half was turgid and approached embarrassing. There were certainly elements of last week's win on Graham Potter's Stamford Bridge return that bordered on being the same.

Ultimately many of the questions put towards Maresca also extend beyond him. There is a growing voice of unrest and unhappiness towards the sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, who constructed this squad, as well as the figurehead of the ownership consortium in Behdad Eghbali.

Roman Abramovich's name was once more being sung in the away end on the south coast. The end of the January window and the continuation of leadership issues, unpopular goalkeeping options, a flaky and tiring midfield, and no depth whatsoever up front came at a bad time with this performance.

Chelsea were anaemic. Handed an early opener by Bart Verbruggen, they failed to have another shot on target in the remainder of the game. After going behind, they hardly troubled the Brighton defence at all and visibly lost their heads.

This was a young team being schooled and outplayed by another young team. Experience should not have been an issue. Chelsea's issues were exposed.

After the game, Maresca's response to going out of the cup drew much criticism, and rightly so. He suggested that there was, at least, a silver cloud to this and that his side would now be able to focus on the Premier League and Conference League.

They are brave words because the Conference League is not much of a challenge and holds little clout. If league fortunes do not change, then Chelsea could be left with very little to celebrate and more failures to try and justify. That has become the norm.

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Unlike last week, when Chelsea were buoyed by a strong comeback and a much-improved second half against West Ham, there were no individuals to hide behind. Levi Colwill expressed his regret online at handing Jarrod Bowen the opening goal on that occasion but there is nobody here coming out to talk here.

This is very much a collective problem. Robert Sanchez and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall have been poor and have been targeted by sections of the match-going fanbase. Those who decided to spend upwards of £50million to buy the pair are more anonymous and are not hung out to dry in the same way.

Maresca has been unable to find a better way to use them. Individual mistakes must also be accepted here. It is a structural issue that has led to this.

At Chelsea there is now a culture of no accountability. When things go well, there are plenty willing to take responsibility for the moves that helped push things forward. There is nobody who will come out and put their head on the parapet following a defeat or when it looks bad.

There are no ceremonial Instagram posts about 'going again' or thanking the fans after this loss. Even the manager is looking to spin a defeat. To a degree, this might be him wisely protecting his players, but there are few that are going to buy or accept it.

Chelsea were eager to downplay talk of a title charge in the winter. They maintained that the season would be judged more thoroughly in March and April when there was a bigger sample size. The powers that be may well come to regret that, as it reflects worse and worse on them as the weeks go by.

There is an eerie silence when Chelsea drop below expectations as those in charge alienate the team that they put together. The players are not yet the strong figures that have graced the club in years gone by. They are not standing up to be counted, and neither are those above them.

Seemingly happy to be the centre of attention when transfers succeed but all too eager to twist and turn the narrative to suit them when it turns, Chelsea are a club of shadows. Bodies come to life, soak up the applause, then go back into the dark as it suits. It is not the way to build things up and is already starting to cost them.

In a sporting sense, there are serious problems at play. When that has a financial impact, it will be interesting to see who takes the blame. For now it is Maresca who shoulders the blame, but it is clear things go above him.