Chelsea: Frank Lampard cannot be the scapegoat anymore
Chelsea fans have continued to criticize Frank Lampard after another underwhelming result, but he’s not at fault for these struggles.
I cannot believe I’m actually about to begin a sentence like this in his second season, let alone ever: the Frank Lampard haters were out in full effect after Saturday’s match. Chelsea found itself down 3-0 to newly promoted West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns at halftime, an eye opening result to say the least. Many took to social media to voice frustrations with the manager, but like most instances, it wasn’t the manager who deserved the blame.
Errors from Marcos Alonso, Thiago Silva and Reece James saw the Baggies hit the Blues on three separate occasions, each more shocking than the last. Overall, Lampard’s tactics and personnel were not half bad. The players were getting into good spaces and creating chances at the other end, but missed opportunities by Tammy Abraham and Timo Werner—on top of defensive mistakes—saw the Blues put themselves into a hole.
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The gripes were the same as usual, but the gaffer has little-to-no choice as to what he is going to do early on this season. The most common complaint was centered around Marcos Alonso starting. The thing is, Lampard probably agrees with the supporters on this one, which makes the criticism that much more baffling. Ben Chilwell is clearly the Blues’ left back of the future, so the question is: what does one realistically expect Lampard to do?
The Blues played three matches in a seven day span, firstly. Player rotation is key, especially considering another match is going to be played just three days after a trip to The Hawthorns. Of all the left back options Lampard has at his disposal, Alonso was the best one to start this match. Cesar Azpilicueta is being eased back into the starting XI after a brutal injury just a few weeks ago, Chilwell is recovering from a heel problem that kept him out months and Emerson was underwhelming against Barnsley. Add those scenarios to the fact Alonso has played quite well in recent times, a consensus conclusion is reached. Hindsight is 20/20, but Lampard’s decision was justified.
Further, he also got heat for three other decisions: starting Mason Mount, not naming Kurt Zouma to the 18 and most preposterous of all, not starting Kepa Arrizabalaga or Edouard Mendy.
Despite Mount being one of the best performers on the pitch at West Brom—and the game prior against Barnsley—supporters still moaned about him starting over Callum Hudson-Odoi. While Hudson-Odoi’s standout performance yesterday should definitely be recognized, one can forgive Lampard for leaving the worst player from the previous match on the bench. Mount was always going to start this match and thank goodness he did because if not, the Blues may have never gotten back into this game.
The only real selection choices that should land on Lampard’s shoulders are his defensive decisions. Starting Silva makes sense given the manager wants to have the 36-year-old play a massive role this season. However, it was not leaving Andreas Christensen in the dog house after his red card a week prior that baffled people. Christensen was the best defender on the day, but fans would’ve rather seen Zouma or Tomori over either centerback who started. The fault here goes to Lampard for taking West Brom too lightly, and I’m sure he’d tell you the same thing.
The Arrizabalaga and Mendy claims need no justification as Caballero was the goalkeeper for this match from the minute he made his first save of the season. An aspect of this match that does need addressing though is Lampard’s handling of substitutions. While his squad’s first half errors don’t sit on his shoulders, his superb substitutions deserve all the praise. In addition to his halftime talk, the gaffer’s changes sparked a performance that showed a subtle progress towards where the team wants to be in comparison to last season.
Overall, new squad members are coming in left and right while vital veterans are recovering from injuries. As much as we—as fans—would like to wave a magic wand and have a fully healthy squad, that cannot happen overnight. Different injuries require extended periods of time to recover; some players also take longer to get match fit than others. Given the crowded fixture list for the season, Lampard can be forgiven for not taking things game by game and looking at the larger picture.
Next. Chelsea: Frank Lampard has an impossible task with untrustworthy players. dark
This season—like any other—is a marathon, not a sprint. We’re going to have to suffer through a few Alonso error-filled performances, some growing pains at the back and whatever other imperfections that present themselves. However, it’s important to remain patient. Rome wasn’t built in a day; Lampard’s super squad won’t be either.