Frank Lampard once again hit out at his unperforming Chelsea players after their defeat by Manchester United, insisting that tactics ‘do not matter’ without standards.
Heading into their loss at Old Trafford, Lampard’s side were already guaranteed to finish in the bottom half of the Premier League for the first time in 27 years – and their club record 16th loss in a 38-game season condemned them to further misery.
First-half goals from Casemiro and Anthony Martial, the latter tapping home in added time after the visitors had squandered several golden chances of their own, put United in cruise control, with Erik ten Hag’s charges coasting to all three points.
Delivering his downbeat assessment post-match, Lampard again questioned the work of his squad on the training pitch and admitted the club requires a ‘reboot’.
‘It’s a simple thing to say but any team that wins in the Premier League has them as a base, because without them the tactics do not matter,’ Lampard told Sky Sports.
Chelsea‘s falling standards after their defeat by Manchester United” class=”blkBorder img-share” style=”max-width:100%” />
Frank Lampard took aim at Chelsea‘s falling standards after their defeat by Manchester United
The Blues will finish in the bottom half of the Premier League after a miserable campaign
United took control of the contest” class=”blkBorder img-share” style=”max-width:100%” />
Casemiro broke the deadlock early on at Old Trafford before United took control of the contest
‘Training well every day, trying to improve, being a real collective unit.
‘There are some variables for the players, everyone talks about a big squad and I understand that it’s hard for the coaches this year at the club – I get it because I’ve lived that for nine league games now.
‘Sometimes you can say that is maybe a factor – if you want to call it an excuse – but as a player you have to put that to the side and focus on your own game.
‘Since I’ve been in I’ve understood quickly that some of the collective standards – and it’s for the individuals within that to realise who they are – this is not a blanket, we just have to find the reasons for why the club is where it’s at, and there are many.
‘It’s not just finger-pointing at the players because it’s definitely not a lack of effort this evening, but you build up the credit through your training and your prep, and you build up a resilience.
‘I was fortunate enough to be a player here for many years and you can look at the group and the player next to you and know that he’s worked on his standards and everything is there to rely on each other.
Lampard also admitted that a ‘reboot’ is desperately needed at Stamford Bridge this summer
Chelsea also suffered a club record 16th loss in a 38-game season to further pile on the misery” class=”blkBorder img-share” style=”max-width:100%” />
Chelsea also suffered a club record 16th loss in a 38-game season to further pile on the misery
‘It’s a bad year for the club, and many clubs have these years when we’ve had massive success for the last 20 years or whatever, but the important thing is you get to the bottom of how it improves.
‘It needs a reboot, the club will move on in summer in terms of what the squad looks like, and as a Chelsea player where we want to be, everything has to be improved to get to the level.’
Staggeringly, Lampard also admitted that he has not been able to learn much as a manager during his interim spell in charge at Stamford Bridge.
The club legend has won one of his 10 games since taking up the reins after Graham Potter’s axing and is, remarkably, the fourth coach to manage the side this season.
Asked about his own future, Lampard told Sky Sports: ‘If you ask me what I’ve learned in this short period, in terms of coaching not so much.
‘If you haven’t got that basis then back-five, back-four… two in midfield, three in midfield… those things are not so important.
Lampard conceded he has been able to learn very little during his interim spell at the club
‘Because if you can’t build up and have that endurance in training, if that’s not there from a coaching point of view there are hard things you want to do [instead].
‘I’ve been in this situation as a player, with an interim and change of manager. A lot of the plus points you gain are from what the team is fighting for, what can you motivate them for.
‘We haven’t found that as a collective, the results say so.
‘This job is going to challenge you at different times, I’m certainly not the victim – I love working for this club. That’s not changed from the moment I’ve been here.
‘Have I learnt much on the football side? As I say, I don’t think so in this period. I did here before and I did at Everton. In this period it’s been more about what I’ve walked into and what I’ve seen, that’s been very different for me.’
