A look into the stubborn mind of Frank Lampard
Boy, that Chelsea game left a lot to be desired from a total team standpoint. Chelsea managed to come back from down 3-0 and salvage a point, but it was to West Bromwich Albion, who last week got spanked by Everton, hardly world beaters and through three games were looking like relegation fodder. Given the personnel and the formation, it’s not an entirely surprising result.
With Ben Chilwell still getting completely fit and Christian Pulisic in the same boat, Marcos Alonso started on the left side and almost immediately made a terrible mistake leading to West Brom’s first goal about 7 minutes in. For some reason, Frank Lampard had N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic pushing forward, which given their talents is feasible, but not when they’re so far forward they can’t get back to bolster the center of the field in the Chelsea half. Throughout the first 20 minutes including the goal, the Blues struggled to get anything going down the left side, always the freaking problem area and the scoring plan seemed entirely based on Reece James crosses aimed at Tammy Abraham who could not finish for his life. I couldn’t understand why no attacking efforts were made down the left side when Alonso is there for offense. He cannot play defense so if you don’t run offense down his side of the field, why is he in? He could have gotten things going with Timo Werner who’s always good playing on the left side of the attack where he was during this game. West Brom just pounded that weak side of the field getting breaks consistently, forcing saves from Willy Caballero and ultimately scoring two additional goals before the 30 minute mark from a bad Thiago Silva mistake and a poorly covered corner by Reece James. Somehow, shockingly, Andreas Christensen appeared to be the most competent defender, seeming to be the only one aware of how dire the game was becoming. Despite going down, Chelsea infuriatingly refused to take advantage of any break instead opting to strictly build through James constantly even as West Brom pressed themselves up the field.
Through the first couple of games Kai Havertz is showing a certain defensive prowess that Lampard doesn’t seem to know how to utilize nor where to position him. Throughout this game, he should have been playing deeper in Kante’s role and if they really needed Kante’s holding skills, he should have been playing Kovacic’s role. Because of where Havertz was as a central attacking midfielder, Mason Mount was crowding James in an unfamiliar role on the right side, instead of in the center where he belongs. With minimal chances in the first half most unfinished by Tammy, Chelsea looked largely neutered by the stoutness of West Brom’s defense. I shouted at the television for Olivier Giroud because despite all of his goals last year, Tammy just doesn’t finish like The Handsome Man, nor does he do all the little Al Horford Celtics like Giroud things that make the offense run more efficiently and facilitate. While West Brom managed to continue assaulting the goal, Chelsea made it halftime down only 3-0; it was a joke.
At halftime Lampard mercifully took Alonso off, replaced him with Cesar Azpilicueta and moved Callum Hudson-Odoi over to the right side replacing Kovacic, dropping Kante back to the middle where El Professor struggled. With added subs, some life appeared but the press was still non-existent. I can’t understand how Lampard is so married to this cautious build up routine even still down by so many goals. Every fast break stalled through either Mount, James or Hudson-Odoi though Mount gave the most fucks of anyone on the field, tirelessly trying in vain to run Lampard’s offense. With Azpilicueta’s passing prowess, Chelsea finally broke through in the 55th minute with Mount earning a much deserved goal for his efforts. Werner looked dangerous and finally seemed to properly be playing in the space where he’ll continue succeeding. West Brom continued to do their best Miami Heat impression against the Bucks fighting for absolutely everything, pressing like crazy and challenging the overmatched Caballero who held on for dear life. Seriously, glad Chelsea signed Edouard Mendy. Hudson-Odoi scored a nice give and go with Havertz on the assist in the 70th minute in a rush of energy that he usually has, but doesn’t always harness properly. After Hudson-Odoi came on, he deftly created chances and looked as dangerous as he ever has. If Chelsea end up getting some funds for him from Bayern Munich, this will be a nice showcase of a game to drive up the price. Giroud came on after the goal, replacing Silva going reverse small ball with Tammy somewhat awkwardly working around the top of the box.
As the second half waned, the snipers took their chances with Werner, Giroud and Abraham all getting good chances to tie this thing up, but without success. Somehow, despite West Brom stretching the defense thin in the first half, Lampard didn’t really see a need to change his players or strategy to alleviate that pressure. West Brom weren’t without chances of their own, brought on by suspect midfield play and honestly, denial by the Chelsea defenders that they’d let themselves get into this mess in the first place. Again Christensen, who really leaves a lot to be desired, almost all the time came up big with a few defensive tackles and stands to nullify more goals. Finally, in stoppage time, off a divine Hudson-Odoi ball into the box, Tammy took a deflection and put it away, sealing a point and escaping what likely have been the worst embarrassment since the shellacking Chelsea took against Sheffield United during project restart.
I’m really glad this game happened early in the season to show the team that even a likely relegation headed team can surgically attack their weaknesses. Noticeably, Chilwell started during the week in the Carabao Cup and provided much more consistent play on the left side. I’ve never understood why Lampard insisted on playing Alonso out of position at left back, when he’s so clearly a winger. Apparently, those two reportedly fought after the game with their words, as Alonso went for the team bus after being subbed off. Gee I wonder what that was about. Lampard is tanking Alonso’s value for some absurd reason, especially given how much they spent in the summer and the interest in Alonso from Inter Milan which seems to be getting hotter after this game. Constantly making Alonso look bad by playing him out of position isn’t helping anyone. This team desperately needs Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech on the field so they can figure out the positioning of their first team players. Havertz still hasn’t exactly found his niche, though his sheer talent keeps him relevant, but once the lineup is secure he should be fine to properly move into an attacking center-midfield position to couple his defensive skills which can’t be sneezed at. With him and Mount together, it’s just redundancy balderdash. Chelsea come up against another middling team in Crystal Palace this weekend, with Ziyech and Pulisic likely still out. I’m not going to be shocked if continued defensive lapses, lack of chemistry and complete disinterest in doing anything on a fast break don’t yield similar results to this match.
Bo's Gamut 