Chelsea suffered their heaviest defeat in the Premier League era on Sunday when they were demolished 6-0 by Manchester City. 

The reigning champions took the lead after just four minutes when Raheem Sterling capitalised on some shocking defending to fire an early goal past Kepa Arrizabalaga. 

Within 25 minutes Sergio Aguero had added two more goals and Ilkay Gundogan made it 4-0 before half-time. 

Things got even worse for Chelsea after the break as Aguero completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot before Sterling rounded off the scoring with his second. 

Truly, it was a day to forget Maurizio Sarri and his side as they failed to bounce back from a 4-0 battering away to Bournemouth at the end of January. 

And following Sunday's result, some fans have seen enough of the Blues under their current boss. 

FACING THE AXE?

There have been calls for Sarri to face the chop after a club-record breaking defeat - and given owner Roman Abramovich's history of sacking managers, that's a very real possibility. 

But, after watching Chelsea's embarrassing performance against City, Gary Neville has come out to defend the Italian tactician and has explained why Abramovich should stick by him.

"If the ownership of the club really do want a higher quality of football then they're going to have to live through the change," Neville said on Sky Sports, per Football.London.

"Now's not the time to go weak on that. Now what we'll see in the next 24 to 48 hours whether Chelsea have the belief that they do want to follow through with it."

HISTORY IS AGAINST SARRI

Neville also admitted though, that Chelsea might not be patient enough to wait for that long-term payoff, as history isn't on Sarri's side. 

"In the past I agree, they've changed [Andre] Villas-Boas, they've changed [Luiz Felipe] Scolari. Are they going to stick with Sarri?" he continued.

"If they really want this type of football in the long term they're going to have to maintain a position of the club and live through the pain and change.

A NEW PHILOSOPHY 

"It's never been what they've done before but it's how intent they are on seeing that style change," Neville added.

"If they're intent on that style of football changing, they're going to have to maintain a manager and not go back to something that's happened before.

"You talk about Roman Abramovich being motivated by Pep Guardiola's style of play, which is 75 to 80% possession. Chelsea have never been like that."