Chelsea faults persist despite summer spend as familiar problems frustrate Frank Lampard

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Jack Rosser @JackRosser_20 September 2020

The one area Chelsea went into the summer knowing they needed strengthening was in central defence, and it remains the one area they have not improved upon significantly despite spending close to £250million.

There has been one addition at the back, in PSG’s Thiago Silva, who Lampard must hope will bring some composure at the back. But at 35, the Brazilian cannot be expected to overhaul a backline or be a regular mainstay across this most hectic of seasons. More is needed if they are to contest with Liverpool and Manchester City in a title race.

So, inevitably, it was the one position which made the difference in their first real test this season. This was Frank Lampard’s chance to show just how far his side had progressed when it comes to challenging the top two this season, and it was a chance that evaporated moments before the break.

Andreas Christensen’s reckless sending off - the red card shown after referee Paul Tierney had taken a second look on the monitor and upgraded his original decision of a yellow - undermined 45 minutes of tireless and largely impressive work by Chelsea, following Lampard’s carefully crafted plan.

They had restricted Liverpool, pressing ferociously, well during the first half, the midfield three protecting a back four to work around the press. Liverpool’s front three could not get going, until Sadio Mane found the burst of pace to get past Christensen and the Chelsea defender wrestled him to the ground. The least controversial of VAR calls you are likely to see this season.

Chelsea’s plan here looked simple. They were narrow at the back, with Kai Havertz deployed as a false nine and the pace of Timo Werner and Mason Mount either side of him. If they were going to win, it was going to be with a clean sheet and a goal on the break.

That is a perfectly rational plan against a side such as Liverpool - but one that only works with a competent defence, something Lampard’s has proved not to be during his time in charge.

Declan Rice continues to be of interest to the Blues, though it will take at least £70m to see the defender-turned-midfielder return to the club which let him go aged 14.

Chelsea will outscore many sides this season, but these are the contests which really count if Lampard is to realise his ambition of gatecrashing the title race. An ambition which is currently built on a very shaky foundation at the back.

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Mendy arrival can’t come soon enough

With each game that passes, Kepa Arrizabalaga’s position in the Chelsea goal looks increasingly untenable.

For most of the first half, the Spaniard was composed at the back, aside from charging out and misjudging a run from Mohamed Salah and allowing the former Chelsea man to cross to an unguarded goal.

The blame for this defeat cannot rest entirely on his shoulders, but again it was a display far below that expected of the world’s most expensive goalkeeper. The mistake to allow Mane his second of the afternoon was an easy one to avoid, Kepa dawdling in possession with Europe's best forward line in close proximity.

It is, of course, not the 25-year-old’s fault that Chelsea spent a world-record fee to acquire him, but his arrival was supposed to have the sort of impact that Alisson’s did on Merseyside. That the man at the other end saved Jorginho’s spot-kick did Kepa no favours by comparison.

Veteran Willy Caballero ended last season, in the Premier League and Champions League, as Lampard’s first-choice keeper, but aged 38 is not a viable option for the long term.

Whether Edouard Mendy, set to sign from Rennes in the coming days, is the man to fill the role for the foreseeable future it remains to be seen, but Kepa will at least have viable competition, and Lampard another option. The Chelsea boss will hope that the Frenchman’s arrival can either give the backline confidence in the man behind them or spark something in his current keeper.

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Wingers returning will make a difference

One real frustration for Lampard here will be that, when they were presented with the first chance to make a statement about their title credentials, Chelsea were without most of their firepower going forward.

While a forward line of Werner, Mount and Havertz is rather enviable, at full strength Chelsea will be so much more lethal.

Christian Pulisic ended last season looking like the perfect player to fill Eden Hazard’s boots, charging at and easily past defenders, while Hakim Ziyech showed in pre-season how deadly his crosses can be when he set up Werner in a friendly at Brighton.

Setting up to score on the counter - every Chelsea player had an average position inside their own half just after the break - Lampard had to rely solely on Werner to carry his side up the pitch, quite the task for a new signing in just his second game - and against a midfielder in Fabinho, playing at the back alongside Virgil van Dijk, who was having an almost faultless afternoon.

Chelsea felt a little blunted in that sense, especially after going down to ten men, but with such an array of talent waiting to return from fitness, it should not be a long term concern.