https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2020/12/27/
lampard-reports-there-will-be-changes
Lampard reports there will be changes
27 Dec 2020
After a first 45 minutes of football at Arsenal which he rates as the
worst half by his team this season, Frank Lampard has confirmed it will
have an impact on his selection against Aston Villa.
https://i.imgur.com/qb6zPaO.jpg
The Blues face the West Midlands side just 48 hours after our Boxing Day
defeat and that alone means rotation is likely but the lack of energy
shown at the Emirates, which the boss says was not due to physical
fatigue, and the basic standards not being reached ensure more changes are
on the cards.
Lampard has already confirmed Callum Hudson-Odoi will play against Villa
on Monday evening but one switch he cannot make is to bring in Hakim
Ziyech. He has reported the Moroccan is not yet recovered from injury
sufficiently.
'There will be some changes,' Lampard says. 'I knew that anyway and I am
certainly not going to bang the drum about the quick turnaround [between
the games] after our performance at Arsenal, it is not the important
point, but playing two days later we have to make changes anyway and some
of those will now happen as well because of how that game went.
'People have to come in and inject the energy and personality that is in
our performances normally. The reason we went so many games unbeaten was
because of that, and we have come off that, and we have to get back on it
quickly.
https://i.imgur.com/PVOSb4G.jpg
Lampard watching on during Saturday's game
'Some of it is because of where we maybe are as a squad. People wanted to
talk us up as title contenders, I never accepted that was the case because
we are not there, that takes time to build.
'Games like the Arsenal one are certainly ones we have to learn a very big
lesson from - everybody, myself included - because when I see that in the
first half I don't like it. I don't like it so it can't happen.'
It is often said managers learn most about their players when they are
dealing with defeat and with young squad members and some new to the
Premier League, Lampard knows tough times must be negotiated.
'I don't think this season was going to be plain sailing and winning every
week. We got confident and we got into a position where we were not losing
games and we were winning a lot of games. Things are pretty easy at that
point. When you lose a couple of games it becomes much tougher and the
only way out of it is to fight and to work hard. That is what I will be
instilling in the players, that idea, because that is the only way you get
out of what is a difficult little period for us.
https://i.imgur.com/MgQqDto.jpg
Working on the training pitch during the past week
'But at the same time, we are still close to the top end of the table and
I feel there is a big improvement coming because of the youth in our team,
and the freshness because of players who have come in, so I expect that
but we have to work for it.'
Lampard might consider an alteration in formation to help his team
rediscover their form from prior to the last couple of weeks.
'When we changed the system before it certainly helped us get an uplift
because we weren't feeling as fluid as we like to be, and it is my job
then to look at it and feel if we can be better.
'I think it helped but the players are the ones. As much as the players
weren't good in the first half against Arsenal, they were very good for a
long period and were improving in that unbeaten run so it is a case of
staying strong mentally and just bringing back the good basics to get you
on that run, because we have a talented squad.
'There is a lot of uplift in it but you have to keep hitting the basics
day in day out. The few defeats we have had recently are because we
dropped off a little and it is my job to pick it back up.'