Chelsea were gutless and weak-minded vs Bayern but focus is long-term and Lampard needs transfers to make that happen – The Sun

REALISATIONS of the big task Lampard has triggered after Bayern defeat, focus must be long term.

As I reflect on the loss against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, it really was a case of men versus boys despite both sides having a similar average age on the night.

I started this season full of excitement when Frank Lampard took charge, and that feeling is still there because I believe he is the one to bring Chelsea back to the top again.

Although my expectations were not high this season, Tuesday night bought home a reality to Chelsea fans like myself.

I perhaps had a clouded judgement at the start of the season due to the excitement surrounding Lampard’s return.

Chelsea were non-existent after Bayern scored their first goal. They didn’t give up as such, but they just faded away gradually like the sunset going down.

There were no leaders even attempting to hype the players up and give them belief that they could get straight back into the game. They were gutless, and weak-minded. This is an issue that has been breeding in certain players in this squad for years, and now Lampard is the one trying to pick that up.

But you have to look at the reality of the situation and see that this defeat and the manner of it, is really what we should have expected this season. Let’s look at the facts:

• Lampard is coaching in his first season in the Premier League.
• He could not sign any players to improve a squad that already lacked quality due to the summers transfer ban.
• He lost Chelsea’s best player, a player that carried this team for years in the shape of Eden Hazard.
• Despite asking, he was not given any new signings in January.

Lampard’s position is much more difficult than Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte, and Maurizio Sarri before him, purely because he does not have a star game changing player like Hazard, and he is yet to make any of his own signings.

In fact, Lampard doesn’t even really have a world class player as such, with N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic perhaps being the only two with a claim for that name.

Lampard cannot be judged for his work at Chelsea until the end of next season, after 2-3 transfer windows that allows him to build his own squad.

Source: Read Full Article