Chelsea Boss Frank Lampard Dismisses Criticism Over Defensive Style Of Play

Chelsea interim head coach Frank Lampard has said he wants to play attacking football and claimed that the defensive way was the only way to set up against Real Madrid.

The former England international has received a lot of flack for setting Chelsea up to play defensively.

In Chelsea’s last game against Brentford, the Blues lined up with only one recognised attacker, Raheem Sterling.

His attacking cohorts consisted of Conor Gallagher and N’Golo Kante, while Ben Chilwell and Cesar Azpilicueta played as wing-backs.

Even Brentford boss Thomas Frank said he was surprised by the respect Chelsea paid the Bees.

However, Lampard said while he wants to play front-foot attacking football, he must consider other aspects of the game.

Lampard said (via Chelsea’s website): “Coming in here, I think the systems have changed a lot and that hasn’t brought an answer. I don’t think there is one answer or the other.

“For Real Madrid I got criticised going into the game for being too defensive but for me, that was the only way to approach that game.

“After 60 minutes, we could have been 1-0 or 2-0 up and then that game and the whole tie looks different.

“Brentford was different. Managers sometimes have to compromise. At the moment, with where we are, there are things we have to look at, and we think ‘Well, that didn’t work properly so we cannot be that fluid like we have tried to be.’”

“We went to Wolves with 4-3-3 and we didn’t win. After the events, there are not always absolute answers.

“Do I want to play more free-flowing football? Yes. When I was here before people maybe thought we were almost too free-flowing at times.

“I know that when I looked at the underlying nature of how we were playing in my first season here, we had one of the highest xG totals in the league and one of the lowest xG against, but we were conceding more goals than we should have done. There are different reasons sometimes.

“In this short term, I want to find consistency in our work but that has been challenging in five games. Sometimes you are having to put pieces of the puzzle together.”

Lampard continues to search for his first win in his second spell in charge of the Blues. The 44-year-old has only managed to make a struggling Chelsea more dire.

The Blues have lacked any tactical identity since he arrived, as he has constantly switched between formations. They have not looked good in any of his systems.

Under Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter, Chelsea managed to be defensively resolute while struggling to score.

Under Lampard, there is no sign of defensive organisation while their problems in the final third persist.

The issue of the defensive organisation was a problem in Lampard’s first spell.

The Blues conceded 54 league goals in the 2019/20 season. No side in the top ten conceded more that season.

Things won’t get any easier for Lampard in his next game in charge. They face title challengers/London rivals Arsenal tonight at the Emirates.

The Gunners will be desperate for three points after recent dropped points.

They will go into the clash with some confidence against a hapless Chelsea team that cannot wait for this miserable season to end.