Frank
Lampard has warned there will be more harsh lessons for his youthful Chelsea
side after Manchester United punished "fatal" errors on his managerial
Premier League debut.
Lampard's Chelsea dominated for periods at Old Trafford, creating more
chances and enjoying more possession than their hosts, but were punished for
a series of defensive mistakes.
Kurt Zouma clumsy foul on Marcus Rashford handed the United striker a
first-half penalty, while Anthony Martial and Daniel James benefitted for
Chelsea errors to condemn Lampard to a 4-0 defeat in his first competitive
game in charge of his former club.
"Let's be clear, with the injuries we have and the fact we couldn't bring in
players, this is going to be a work in progress to a degree and we will have
to learn harsh lessons and correct them quickly," the Chelsea boss said.
"We are missing internationals and big players, but I don't want to make
excuses. The team we put out today was clearly competing in the game for
long periods, but we made four mistakes and they were clinical in the way
they put them away.
"There were lots of elements to the game that I liked and parts I didn't
like that were fatal for us. I'm not going to complain too much about not
being able to bring in players, I want to work, and I saw lots of positives
today.
"The fans saw a team that were trying to do the right thing and then the
game went against us really quickly. That was the harsh lesson for my team
today."
Lampard responds to Mourinho
Lampard opted for youth over experience at Old Trafford as Chelsea academy
products Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount started ahead of the likes of Marcos
Alonso, N'Golo Kante and Olivier Giroud.
Former Chelsea manager and Sky Sports pundit Jose Mourinho believed Lampard
should have fielded a side with more know-how, but the current Blues boss
disagreed with the Portuguese.
"I can't drag people out of the medical room to play, whether they are
experienced or not," Lampard added.
"These are the players that would play today, and we were clearly the better
team for 45 to maybe 60 minutes.
"What was evident is that we made four individual errors that led to goals
out of their five shots, there's the harsh reality for us.
"I don't have to be too concerned about what anyone else says pundit-wise,
they can speak but what's clear is the squad we've got is the squad we've
got.
"If we were more clinical, had a stroke of luck and went in at half-time two
or three goals up, the game would be completely different."
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