The former Blues chief has highlighted a key area of concern for Frank Lampard in the wake of his loss in the London derby.
Chelsea need to sign a defensive leader in the John Terry cast after being separated by West Ham, says Glenn Hoddle.
The Blues suffered their tenth Premier League loss of the season against the Hammers at London Stadium on Wednesday.
Willian opened the scoring for Chelsea through the penalty spot, but Tomas Soucek led a well-deserved draw for the home team just before the interval.
Michail Antonio put West Ham in the lead shortly after the restart, but the game seemed to be heading for a draw after Willian fired an expert free kick with just under 20 minutes to play.
There was no denying David Moyes’ side, however, as Andriy Yarmolenko’s last shot secured a 3-2 victory for the Hammers, who are now three points off the relegation zone.
Meanwhile, Chelsea are now just two points behind Manchester United and Wolves in the race for the final Champions League position, and Hoddle believes Lampard will need to organize his squad to change his fortune quickly.
The former Blues boss believes his old club needs someone to take the mantle of legendary former captain Terry, with a lack of leadership that costs them too often in crucial games.
Hoddle said Premier League Daily: “They have a lot of work to do in qualifying for the Champions League and they also have to deal with the FA Cup. Frank will want to go all the way and win that.”
“So he has the team to deal with that, but, for me, it’s pretty simple: If you can’t score and you can’t create, you’re worried as a manager, but you have a ton of them right now.” I bet you don’t know what your best team is and next season you will have even more!
“You have to look,” How do we get a John Terry? – which is not easy – or an experienced player who needs to defend adequately but also organize people.
“They must be organized when they are on the attack with the ball. ‘Someone must be shooting people and they will cut half the goals they concede with such a player, but they are not easy to achieve either.”
Hoddle singled out Antonio Rudiger for criticism after his disastrous deployment against West Ham, while insisting that Chelsea is not well equipped to beat teams that sit in numbers.
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“I would ask Rudiger if he knows that player. Because he knows that Yarmolenko is left-handed; have you watched the videos before the game?” added the 62-year-old. “As he goes there, it must surely be going through his head. But it didn’t seem like it!
“Chelsea look better when the team is going to face them and they know they are going to be out of possession, whether it be Liverpool, Manchester City and they look good, tight and compact and everyone knows their job.”
“When they try to open teams, they end up losing. Ten games are too many and it’s not against the best teams all the time. They lack concentration to defend.”
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