Chelsea: 3 lessons Lampard must take from Sheffield United loss
Some players are just not good enough to start for this club
In his post-match press conference, Lampard was very clear about the implications of this match.
“Today I am concerned about how we performed,” the Blues boss told football.london. “We have to put this game away very quickly but I learned a lot, I won’t forget that.”
It seems that some of these Chelsea players have just played their way out of Lampard’s plans. This was the last straw for some of them, and expect a massive overhaul in the summer.
One of these players who may no longer be a starter is Tammy Abraham. After a magnificent start to the season, Lampard has been very patient with him, but he put in an awful display on Saturday and the worst part is it’s not even a surprise.
His future is still likely with Chelsea, but at the moment he offers nothing up front, significantly less than 33-year-old career substitute Giroud. It is a shame how much his form has fallen, but Lampard can no longer justify giving him starts.
At the other end of the pitch, he must know he has a huge task ahead of him. Zouma, Christensen and Rudiger all had atrocious games, and if Lampard wants to sell all three of them, I couldn’t blame him.
After conceding three goals, his post-game message may well be about his defence, and who he plans to get rid of in the summer.
The only centre-back we haven’t seen play since the restart, Fikayo Tomori (out with a muscle injury), is the closest Chelsea have to a consistent one, but he is still not the leader Lampard requires at the back.
The spectacularly uncreative performances of creative midfielders Mount and Barkley in a big game will also have reaffirmed the club’s need for Kai Havertz, the German sensation from Bayer Leverkusen.
However, Havertz will only move if he can play in the Champions League next season, and if the Blues play their remaining games the way they played against Sheffield, that may well not be the case.
Even though Lampard likes Barkley, the 26-year-old must step it up in these final games, as he is not only playing for Chelsea’s future but his own as well and this lack of production will not cut it.
Mount, on the other hand, is certainly a part of Lampard’s plans but he must put displays like this out of his repertoire and get back to the tenacious, skillful midfielder he usually is. He and Havertz could link up very well next season, but he must show he belongs.
Lampard’s comments after the game should not be taken lightly, and it is a very strong possibility that some of the players just earned themselves a ticket out of Stamford Bridge on Saturday.