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Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has indicated that his team’s failure to defend set pieces is unacceptable in something that should be “simple”.
The Blues conceded their first set piece goal of the season when Kyle Bartley scored West Brom’s third in a 3-3 tie on Saturday.
Despite a new season and a new center-back in Thiago Silva, Chelsea’s set-piece problems persist.
It would be unfair to base that judgment on one goal in particular, but Chelsea’s defense has already come under fire after conceding 14 set-pieces goals last season (seventh-highest team in the Premier League).
Liverpool and Manchester City, by comparison, conceded just seven set pieces each.
Lampard is understandably unhappy with the situation, particularly as Bartley went unmarked to guide the ball into the net from point-blank range and sent a clear message to his players.
(Photo by Laurence Griffiths / Getty Images)
He told Chelsea’s official website: “When I talked about mistakes earlier, I was relating to the set piece goal because that’s not a difficult thing. [to defend].
“Sometimes when you look at goals from an open game, there are a lot of different factors, like what happens in certain areas higher up the field.
“But in a set-piece, when they ask you to mark a man, you have to mark a man, it’s that simple.
“If you let a man fall on you to score a goal, it’s a clear mistake.”
(Photo by Malcolm Couzens / Getty Images)
Lampard still believes that Thiago Silva could lead Chelsea’s bottom line, despite his disappointing Premier League debut.
“People will want to talk about their mistake [for the West Brom goal] and that’s fair, but at the same time, apart from that moment, we saw how good it is, “argued the Chelsea manager.
“We looked at his leadership skills, his quality and I think we’ll see more of that as the season progresses.”
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