Frank
Lampard pulled no punches on his Chelsea players after their Boxing Day loss
to Arsenal, describing their first-half display as "lazy" and saying "all
the basics were wrong" in the way they approached the game.
The comments were intended to provoke a reaction from his squad but not this
one. Sunday's performance at Stamford Bridge, where Manchester City ran out
3-1 winners, was even worse. "When you start questioning work-rate and
desire, no matter how good a team you are, you are going to slip up," said
Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane.
Throw in their 1-1 draw with Aston Villa last time out and Chelsea are
without a win in their last three games. Go back further than that and it is
one in six. Lampard's side topped the Premier League after their 3-1 win
over Leeds in early December. Now they sit eighth.
It has been an alarming slide and while Lampard has questioned the
contributions of his players, the spotlight is now falling on him.
For all the investment in the summer, his Chelsea side are three points and
four places worse off than at the same stage of last season. "Last year he
had a free pass," added Keane, "but they've spent money and it brings added
pressures."
Lampard is certainly feeling those pressures now. He can complain about the
application of his players but what hope is there when they are set up as
poorly as they were against City?
In the build-up to the third goal, just 34 minutes in, Raheem Sterling found
himself through on goal in the middle of his own half. It was a bizarre
sight but it was not the first time Lampard's Chelsea have been exposed in
this way on their own turf. Think Gabriel Martinelli in the 2-2 draw with
Arsenal last season.
The first two goals were similarly ugly, with Chelsea giving City as much
time and space to progress the ball up the flanks as they did Arsenal on
Boxing Day. Again, lessons went unlearnt. "Try tackling him," added a
dumbfounded Keane. "No one from Chelsea tackled today. Nobody got close to
anybody."
Lampard called on his players to redouble their efforts after the Arsenal
game but City outran them by four kilometres at Stamford Bridge, according
to Premier League tracking data, and the manager's half-time team talk
seemed to make little difference.
City continued to slice them open. Callum Hudson-Odoi's late consolation
goal came from only their second shot on target.
It was not supposed to be this way. City came into the game without a host
of senior players following a COVID-19 outbreak in their camp. It felt like
an opportunity for Chelsea to take advantage. But instead they fell well
short of expectations and it wasn't the first time.
In fact, Lampard's side have failed to win any of their six games against
the Premier League's current top seven this season.
Liverpool, Everton and Manchester City have all beaten them while Manchester
United, Tottenham and Aston Villa have held them to draws. It is a record
that reflects poorly on the man in the dugout.
There
are problems to address all over the pitch.
At one end, they have shipped more goals than relegation-threatened Burnley
and only two fewer than Fulham. At the other, new additions are struggling
to make an impact. Lampard favoured Timo Werner over Olivier Giroud or Tammy
Abraham against City but the German is now without a goal in his last 12
Chelsea appearances.
"I expected difficulties and I know becoming title contenders doesn't come
easy," Lampard said in his post-match press conference.
"One month ago, people were asking me if I was signing a new contract, but
now we've lost four games. The pressure is always there. I was aware of that
when I took the job. But we have to keep going."
The 42-year-old will hope he still has enough credit in the bank to see this
period out having steered the club to a Champions League finish in difficult
circumstances last season.
But he knows as well as anyone that Roman Abramovich has sacked Chelsea
managers for less.
To sit eighth nearly halfway into the season is not, you suspect, what
Abramovich had in mind when he sanctioned £226m in spending during the
summer.
And while Lampard is right when he says new players need time to adapt, it
is far easier to ask for patience when you are relying on academy graduates
rather than expensively-acquired recruits.
There have been mitigating circumstances over the course of his 18 months in
charge but his overall record does not look good in the context of what came
before it. In fact, his average of 1.67 points per game across his 55
Premier League games in charge is the lowest of any manager in the
Abramovich era.
It's little wonder he's feeling the heat.
"I'll always feel heat," he added. "I felt the heat when we were on our good
run as I knew that around the corner there could have been the negative.
We're striving to get to the level of the teams that won things here during
the Roman Abramovich era but we're not at that stage yet.
"I can't speak for those on the board. I can't answer what they're thinking
about the difficult run of results like I couldn't answer for them when
there was talk about a new contract a month ago.
"But there was never going to be an absolute trajectory that was going to be
up and up and up. I saw flaws in my team even during the 16-game [unbeaten]
run."
Lampard still hopes to fix those flaws but whether he gets the time he needs
to do it remains to be seen. The criticism of his own players on Boxing Day
felt dangerous at the time. Two games and no wins later, we are closer to
finding out if there is any way back.
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