More misery for Frank Lampard and Chelsea after latest loss to Brighton
The 2022-23 season has been one of the worst in Chelsea's recent history. The Blues are out of contention of every major trophy and also look set to miss out on Europe next season.
Back-to-back defeats to Wolverhampton Wanderers and Real Madrid were supposed to be a wakeup call, but Chelsea haven’t improved even one bit. On Saturday (April 15), Frank Lampard’s once again flattered to deceive following their 2-1 defeat at home to Brighton & Hove Albion.
Despite taking an early lead through Conor Gallagher, Chelsea couldn’t hold on to it. Brighton came from behind to record an impressive win, thanks to goals from Danny Welbeck and Julio Cesar Enciso.
Chelsea are winless in six games
The problem with Chelsea hasn’t just been their inability to get results, but their performances have equally been drab and uninspiring.
Against Brighton, the Blues couldn’t even get near their opponents and were completely dominated once again. The Seagulls ran circles around Chelsea’s midfield and looked comfortable for large spells.
Roberto De Zerbi’s side mustered ten shots on target against Chelsea’s pitiful two and also enjoyed 59 per cent of possession. It was a game where the Blues were totally outplayed, outfought and out-thought. Their defeat now extends their winless run across competitions to six games, which is almost calamitous for a club of Chelsea’s stature.
Lampard’s misery continues
When Chelsea replaced Graham Potter with Frank Lampard, the idea was to hand the reins to a man who knew the team and to bring some stability to a side that was fast sinking.
However, there’s been no improvement since the former midfielder’s arrival. If for anything, the Blues have gotten worse, having lost all three games under Lampard.
The defeat to Brighton was yet another evidence of Lampard’s tactical bankruptcy, with De Zerbi outsmarting him in every aspect.
“At the moment, more than defeats, it’s performance that we need to talk about. Wins only come with performance, and in terms of performance that was the most disappointing one because we were well beaten,” Lampard admitted after the game, as quoted by Chelseafc.com.
He continued:
“It’s a very good Brighton team, and we must give them some credit because they can perform like that pretty much against anyone in the league, but we were short. We were a yard short, a tackle short, a fighting duel moment short, and that’s not right. You’re not going to win games like that. You have to have the capacity to do that as well as the desire and at the moment we’re falling short. We need to turn that around quickly.”
Chelsea find themselves in a miserable situation, and Lampard doesn’t look like a man capable of turning things around. It’s a complete wreck, and Brighton have just compounded the Blues’ misery.