Frank
Lampard believes tiredness from Wednesday's Super Cup did play a part in
Chelsea's drop in performance in the second half of their 1-1 draw with
Leicester on Super Sunday.
Lampard's Chelsea flew back from Istanbul on Thursday following a penalty
shoot-out defeat by Liverpool in the Super Cup the night before, and despite
starting brightly in Lampard's Stamford Bridge homecoming, Wilfred Ndidi
pegged them back in the second half.
Leicester could have easily won the match, and though Lampard will not put
the performance solely down to tiredness, he could not deny it impacted his
team.
"I hate the tiredness excuse, but it has to be a factor in the second half,"
said the Chelsea head coach. "I saw Liverpool play yesterday, and I know it
would have been tough for them. 120 minutes, flight back the next day, up
until five in the morning, so I think it did have an impact on us late in
the game.
"But again, I think we're good enough to take that factor out and be better
on the ball. I feel for the players a bit on that one, but still I don't
want to use it as the overriding excuse."
Mason Mount had put Chelsea ahead after just seven minutes, but Ndidi's
leveller means Lampard is still winless in his three games in charge.
Lampard reiterated that both he and the players will need time to get it
right this season.
He told Sky Sports: "We can only look at ourselves. I think today once the
pressure came, we didn't have enough angles or options to keep the ball
moving. We were camped in their half for the first 20, 25 minutes, but we
need to be ready when the game changes, to grab it back.
"We need a bit of personality about us. We saw it in midweek but today we
didn't quite have it. We have to improve, this is a process, and it will
take time.
"I was under no illusions when I came here that there would be moments like
this. It takes time to work to get to where we want to be, and that is
thinking and working time."
Chelsea's transfer ban means Lampard could not buy players to bolster his
squad in the summer.
The former Chelsea midfielder says the ban, along with Eden Hazard's
departure for Real Madrid, has created difficult circumstances for this
season, but again stopped short of using it as an excuse for the indifferent
start.
"We know that in the circumstances there are some tough elements to this
year. We couldn't bring players in, I couldn't bring in any players to help
try and push the way I'm thinking. And we lost Eden, someone who is so
pivotal to this club.
"So I think everyone is understanding of that, and will be patient, but
again I don't want to use that as an excuse, because we can be better than
we were for 60 minutes today, and we will be for sure."
Souness: Toughest job in the Roman era
Speaking on Super Sunday, Sky Sports' Graeme Souness believes Lampard has
the most difficult job since Roman Abramovich arrived in 2003. Lampard is
the 14th manager to take charge of Chelsea in that time.
"I think this is the most difficult job for a Chelsea manager since Roman
Abramovich took over the club. The owner appears to have lost interest
through circumstances not of his own making, but that's a factor I think.
"The transfer ban is also a major issue and losing arguably one of the best
players in the world, or certainly the best player in the Premier League
over the last five or six years, it's not easy.
"He needs time and you can't be judging Frank Lampard on what you see now,
this is what he's inherited. There's not a lot wrong with them, just people
being slightly different at vital times and scoring more goals."
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