Chelsea and Frank Lampard - What is going on?

The Current Situation

Chelsea lost 3-1 to Manchester City on January 3rd, 2021. This has prompted a reaction from a significant chunk of Chelsea supporters, calling for Frank Lampard's head. But is the situation really that bad at Stamford Bridge?

Things began to take a turn for Lampard when his side lost to a "relegation-threatened" Arsenal side 3-1. The gunners were seen as a massively inferior side who were in terrible form when they beat Chelsea. As it always is, this prompted an over-reaction from Football Twitter.

As poor as Arsenal had been, they were still a good team and were underperforming in many aspects. But looking at the expected points in that match gives a clearer picture of what actually happened. The game finished with an xG of Arsenal (1.94) - Chelsea (2.25). This means Chelsea were slightly better than Arsenal and should have at least gotten a point out of that game. If we recollect the goals Arsenal scored, it was a very soft penalty on Tierney (converted by Lacazette), a free-kick from 25 yards by Xhaka, and a cross by Saka which mistakenly found its way into the Chelsea goal. All three goals were anomalies and there was no reason to over-react.

By xPts, Chelsea are actually on top of the league. They are second in terms of xG accumulated and third in xGA. By every metric, they are a good team that are just going through a rough patch. It is no fluke that their poor form has coincided with the absence of Hakim Ziyech who is their chief creator with 2.57 key passes per 90. The only player who tops that metric is Hudson-Odoi with 3.11 key passes per 90. He too is a supremely talented player but his numbers are inflated due to a small sample size and can be somewhat attributed to him coming on quite late in games.

The Man City Game

Man City's topsy-turvy start to the season somehow made people believe that they weren't a good team. Pep has changed his formation to a 4-2-3-1 with Rodri and Gundogan in the double pivot to compensate for Rodri's shortcomings and it has worked wonders in their defensive stability. Chelsea lost to a team that will be challenging for the title come the end of the season and were outplayed by a team who have invested more over the last 3 years, with one of the best managers in the game and a much more settled system and squad. There is absolutely no shame in losing to this City team.

In the game, City exploited the space between Chelsea's defence and midfield, and behind Chelsea's full-backs. Kante was often left alone to deal with City's attack and was simply outnumbered in the midfield. The interchangeability of De Bruyne, Sterling, Bernardo Silva, and Foden left Chelsea chasing shadows. Apart from these four, Gundogan absolutely ran the show from deep midfield, playing a similar role to the one Pogba plays at Man United. He was dropping deep to facilitate progression, turning into space, beating Chelsea's press, and found himself in the attacking third as well, as shown by his exceptionally well-taken goal.

How To Fix Chelsea

As good as Chelsea's full-backs are, they are more concerned with attacking than defending. They often overlap wingers and leave a lot of space to be exploited behind them. Reece James usually makes up for this (somewhat) because of his speed and dynamism, but Azpilicueta is unable to do the same at his age.

Perhaps the most irritating part of Chelsea's game is their over-reliance on crosses. They are heavily dependant on creating chances via crossing, emphasizing the importance of James, Ziyech, and especially Giroud to this team. The issue is that their big-money offensive signings of Kai Havertz and Timo Werner are not suitable to play this way. They like to play in small spaces, with quick interchanges and one-touch passes. They are have come from high-pressing, counter-attacking teams (Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig respectively) and are struggling because of the system Lampard is implementing.

Chelsea attempt the 5th most crosses per game in the league and that supports the issue being outlined - a disconnect between the skillset of their attackers Werner and Havertz and the system being implemented. As good as Giroud is, he is 34 and shouldn't be the primary striker for Chelsea anymore. He will not be a part of the next great Chelsea team and it would bode well for Lampard to focus on players who will be.

To cover up Chelsea's weaknesses (space behind fullbacks and in front of defence), they can switch to a 3-4-3 formation. Fikayo Tomori was one of their better center-backs last season and for some reason has been considered to be the 5th choice central defender this season. He is fast, a good passer, and would fit well into a back three. My team would look like this -

-----------------------------------------------------------------Mendy-------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------Tomori----------------------------Silva-------------------------------Zouma---------------------------

James/Azpi------------------------------Kante-------------------------------Jorginho-------------------------------Chilwell

---------------------Ziyech----------------------------------Havertz-----------------------------------Werner--------------------

This formation covers up the deficiencies, allows Havertz to play in his preferred role and Werner to run riot with his pace. Ziyech can cut in to join the midfield, James or Azpilicueta can overlap and provide width on the right side and Werner can occupy a more central position due to Chilwell being so advanced.

Pulisic can easily slot into Ziyech's position and so can Kovacic for Jorginho (if needed).

An issue that remains is Lampard's insistence on using Mason Mount. He is a good player indeed - energetic, a good presser, and a decent creator. However, he is currently operating at just 0.38 xG+A per 90 which is poor when considering what other teams around Chelsea have in that advanced midfield role. City have De Bruyne, United have Bruno Fernandes, Villa have Grealish, and Harry Kane often operates in that role for Spurs. Mount's provides a lot off the ball, but his goal contributions simply do not stack up to other excellent-to-elite level players in his role. He can still be a good squad player, but Lampard needs to play Havertz in that role for the long term benefit of the club.

If Chelsea do want to persist with a four at the back formation, they should go for a 4-3-3 formation with Havertz as a false-9. This would be my eleven -

-----------------------------------------------------------------Mendy-------------------------------------------------------------------

------------James/Azpi-------------------Silva------------------------------Zouma----------------------Chilwell-------------

------------------------Kovacic------------------------------Kante-------------------------------Mount/Gilmour---------------

---------------------Ziyech----------------------------------Havertz-----------------------------------Werner--------------------

With James and Chilwell pushing higher up, the responsibility to cover the space behind them will fall to Kovacic and Mount. Mount would be much more suited to this role instead of the advanced midfielder role. Kante will sit deep and simply recycle possession, akin to his Leicester and early Chelsea days. Havertz can drop into the midfield and link up with Ziyech and Mount and make runs into the box, James and Chilwell will provide the width and Werner will play centrally along with Havertz.

In some games, Pulisic can replace Ziyech and Havertz can then play between the opposition midfield and defense. Pulisic and Werner are blessed with pace and can exploit teams on the break with a player like Havertz pulling the strings.

Conclusion

Chelsea bought a lot of players last summer and it is only natural for the squad to take time to learn each other's game. They need to focus on getting the best out of Havertz, Werner, Pulisic, Hudson-Odoi and James who will be a part of the next great Chelsea team. Lampard has often spoken about being similar to Jurgen Klopp, however, it would serve him well to analyze Man City's style of play and implement some aspects of their game as well. Chelsea are a very good team who are underperforming currently. There is no need for an over-reaction and there is certainly no need to sack Lampard right now. Lampard is one of the smartest footballers out there and early signs are that he will succeed.