Chelsea’s embarrassing struggles show no signs of ending under caretaker boss Frank Lampard
BY PAUL LAGAN
paul@slpmedia.co.uk
And so the saga goes on. Will Chelsea score a point before the end of the season, or will they lose every game under caretaker boss Frank Lampard?
The reality is that tomorrow the Blues head to the South Coast to face Bournemouth and frankly no Chelsea fan is expecting the players to come away with anything other than a sense of embarrassment.
The Cherries were all but dead and buried a while ago and a return to the Championship looked as certain as day follows night.
But they appointed untested Gary O’Neil in November and he ushered in a new manager ‘bounce’ that has seen them almost reach league safety.
They will in fact go above the former multiple Premier League winners and double Champions League title-holders if they beat them on their tight, small ground.
Lampard has lost all six of his games in charge since he was given the reins after Chelsea sacked Graham Potter.
Potter’s best run was in October when he won five on the spin, three league games and two Champions League matches against AC Milan.
How grateful are the new Chelsea owners for those nine league points?
It’s all that separates the west Londoners from a relegation spot.
Tuesday night’s humiliating 3-1 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium has to be the new low and the prospect of going even lower is on the cards. Lampard tried his best to explain the debacle after the Arsenal defeat: “The first half performance was not good enough, in every way. We were nice to play against in every way, nice off the ball, passive. Play like that, you get what you get.”
Lampard then suggested the slight uptick in performance in the second half was down to him.
“It was maybe things I said at half time that, to be fair, I said before the game,” said the former England midfielder. “Tactical no, because I was asked before this game about playing the back five or back four against Brentford – these things don’t matter if you don’t do the basics right.
“We’ve got to do the basics a bit better. We had more dynamic nature, played into the front, held and made runs to get up the pitch, created a couple of decent chances and scored a goal. Those things are good for the players to see. They’re small gains at the minute.”
Emma Hayes is hoping that she can steer Chelsea Women through a tough month with a number of key players struggling for fitness.
They face Everton on Sunday in the Super League hoping to close the gap on Manchester City and leaders Manchester United.
Striker Fran Kirby is out for the rest of the season and will also miss the FA Cup final and World Cup for England in the summer.
She has not been able to recover from a knee injury sustained against West Ham in the FA Cup and will require surgery.
Centre backs Mille Bright and Kadeisha Buchanan are also major doubts.
Norwegian striker Pernille Harder is hoping to play at least a half against Everton as she improves her match fitness after a hamstring injury.