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Saturday’s six-goal draw between Chelsea and West Bromwich Albion was a classic story of a team digging a hole, totaled three goals in the first half, just to evoke the struggle and spirit needed to get through.
Reflecting after the game, Lampard will have good reason to be disappointed and satisfied with today’s performance.
“I have mixed emotions, I am happy to see a team comeback and recover three goals, but I have to go back to the beginning and not be happy with the three goals we conceded. Three shots on goal and we conceded three goals ”.
“The idea was for West Brom to come to the game expecting transitions, but when moments like that happen on the field, you can be punished. We were punished, which gave us a mountain of three goals to climb. The boys showed great character to overcome but at the same time it is not a position you want to be in when a team is organized, make it difficult and you give them the three goals we gave them ”.
When looking at the match as objectively as possible from a statistical perspective, the match script seemed to favor Chelsea at half time, except for the one metric that matters, goals conceded.
If Timo Werner and Tammy Abraham had converted their chances in the first half, the narrative for this match would be very different. At the very least, Chelsea’s score would be more suitable for our 1.09 xG.
Conceding three goals from three shots on target is a clear sign that the football gods were not shining in favor of the … [check notes] … salmon pink and blue striped faux kit. Thanks, Nike. With an xG of 0.46, West Brom defied advanced metrics with his three goal lead.
Each of the three goals Chelsea conceded in the first half came from individual errors on the defensive line, including one by Thiago Silva. Lampard, as we can tell from previous comments about former starting goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, never throws his players under the bus publicly.
“I didn’t blame the players, I laid out the facts about the clear mistakes that led to the goals. It’s always going to be difficult in a game like this. It is not a tactical moment, it is a change of position that we talked about before ”.
“It is difficult to pin that down. They are what they are today. There is an element with the team, not just talking about the goals we concede, where there is a process because we haven’t had much time to work. We have not had a preseason to put in new players, new ideas to keep them moving forward. I’m not sure it’s directly related to today’s goal mistakes. Let’s take the set, for example, which is clear. I don’t think it’s if you’re new to the club or the club, if you’re the designated man, you have to move and follow them and you have to make it difficult for them to score. Thats nothing new. Some parts are just basics. “
But Lampard’s words after the game are as specific and negative as he has ever expressed them. On the surface, it’s hard not to blame him for his disgust with each of the defensive mistakes that led to West Brom’s goals.
In the past he has spoken of the lack of preseason and the fact that his team is currently in the process of change with players who arrive, recover and do not have time to do good chemistry. And that particular talking point alone is strong enough to give Lampard some protection right now until his team has stabilized.
However, simple mistakes lead directly to goals conceded. It’s happened far too often this season, and we’ve only been four games in!
It happened with a header from Alonso to West Brom’s Matheus Pereira. It happened with the unexpected poor first touch from Thiago Silva that allowed West Brom’s Callum Robinson to score. It has happened in previous matches with Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Lampard has talked a lot about the mindset in previous pressers, and that particular attribute is clearly a work in progress.
The positive side is the comeback in the second half. The team fired up and showed great mental focus to stay engaged with the defensive side of the game, ensuring that we would still have a chance if we kept going with every goal scored.
“That is why we have to keep working. You have to be humble enough to accept clear mistakes, whether they are clear or focused or focused. Players have to improve. We are increasing the competition in the team, we have done it.
“There will always be a clinical view in football that if you are going to make mistakes you will have the opportunity to correct them. If you don’t, your chances will be less. That is the ruthless nature of soccer. We want to improve from where we were last year, so there is a lot of work to do. I will repeat the message, not only for you, but behind closed doors. That’s what it takes, repetition to get better. “
-Frank Lampard, source: Football.London
Rome was not built in a day. That is a tired expression, but the essence of the message is true. Lampard and Chelsea must keep working. We have shown that there is a lot to improve at the beginning of this season.
Onward and upward to our rescued spot for the optimists among us.
