Frank Lampard has been back as Chelsea manager for less than a fortnight but has already discovered the huge difference between the state of the club now and how it was when he was in his pomp as a player.
Lampard joined Chelsea two years before Roman Abramovich took over in 2003 and witnessed the transformation from a modest, mid-table club to serial winners under Jose Mourinho and then a succession of other managers.
The Chelsea side that won two successive Premier League titles was packed with big characters and world-class players, including John Terry, Didier Drogba and Lampard himself.
Now he has inherited a huge squad of big-money signings, but with few leaders and none of the world’s best players. Todd Boehly and Behdad Egbahli have spent over €650m on 17 players since buying out Abramovich last May, but they don’t have the magic ingredients that make a winning team.
Saturday’s defeat was their third of the week under Lampard, and 17th of a disastrous season. Brighton, a team assembled for a fraction of Chelsea’s recent spending splurge, were superior in every respect – fitter, more organised, technically better and hungrier than the home side.
The final scoreline did not reflect Brighton’s dominance, with their 26 shots on goal the most Chelsea have faced in a league game at Stamford Bridge for almost 30 years.
Lampard acknowledged Brighton as a model of how to build a successful side, first under Graham Potter, who was poached and then sacked by Boehly, and now with the fiery Roberto De Zerbi at the helm.
“Looking at Brighton, it’s been a long process of work that’s got them to the good place they are in at the moment, and it is a different side to the one that used to come here even two or three years ago when I was manager before. Now they come to Bridge and it’s a completely different game.”
Indeed De Zerbi admitted he had no fear of taking the game to Chelsea, rather than sit back and counter-attack, as other teams have done in recent seasons. Brighton dominated in terms of possession, shots, chances and the most important statistic – goals.
It was Chelsea’s fifth home defeat of the season, a far cry from the days when Mourinho made Stamford Bridge a fortress, when they were unbeaten over 86 home league games from 2004 to 2008, as Lampard recalled.
“In the early Roman Abramovich years, everybody hated us and it was good – we won!
“We want to strive to be that team that people come to play and have respect for, and understand what they’re going to face. At the minute, we need to be better. We need to be more difficult to play against here.
“And that step will then bring more confidence. We need to work to build confidence because there is talent in that squad. Some of them are young, and there’s been a lot of change.”
Lampard dismissed the notion that his players did not look hungry enough.
“I think that is questionable because when you are lacking confidence or if you’re a yard short, or receiving the ball and taking a touch back, it can sometimes look like a lack of hunger or passion, but I don’t feel that is it.
“I think they are hungry to be successful as Chelsea players, so we’ve got to find all the things that get you to that position.”
At least Chelsea managed their first goal in five games, when Conor Gallagher’s 13th minute shot flew off the boot of Brighton captain Lewis Dunk and over keeper Robert Sanchez.
But Brighton equalised before half-time through Danny Welbeck, who replaced Evan Ferguson when the impressive Irish teenager was injured. In the 69th minute fellow substitute Julio Enciso scored a spectacular winner from 25 yards to keep Brighton in contention for a place in Europe.
Chelsea could miss out on European qualification completely, although they have one last chance to stay in the Champions League. Lampard had rested a number of his senior players after last week’s 2-0 defeat by Real Madrid, with the second leg to come on Tuesday at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea are likely to need three goals to avoid going out at the quarter-final stage, and have achieved that only three times in 27 games this season. Lampard also has concerns about the physical capacity of his players.
“I think the team needs some physical work. At this level you have to be right on the limit, and I’m not sure we’re there.
“Maybe that is a capacity thing with the players. It needs to be addressed now and we can work on that. Everything is there for the players in terms of how we can push and drive them, anyone who wants individual or collective work. We’re there to do that.”
