Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has bemoaned his side's inability to take yet another chance to climb higher in the Premier League table following Wednesday's 3-2 loss to West Ham United.
A victory would have seen the Blues move into third place, ahead of Leicester City after their 2-1 defeat to Everton, but defensive errors and inconsistent finishing allowed Andriy Yarmolenko to fire home an 89th-minute winner and snatch all three points for the Hammers.
Full-time. 3-2 to West Ham.#WHUCHE pic.twitter.com/BBWg6Fzts8
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) July 1, 2020
This wasn't a one-off for Chelsea, who have slipped to disappointing results against so-called smaller teams far too often this season, and Lampard admitted (via football.london) that his side need to work on how they react to games.
"It's something that has happened a few times this season," the boss said. "We've had opportunities to close gaps and jump over teams because of other results or whatever situation.
"But we haven't done it and that's a sign of where we are. We know we have a lot of hard work to do to get where we want to be and the reason the rest of us are chasing Liverpool and Man City is because of the consistency that develops over time. That's what we have to work towards.
"It's obviously frustrating but if we're in that position it's how you bounce back, how you move forward. We have Watford now at the weekend and games after that to try and carry on. We have to realise the position we are in in terms of fighting for the Champions League places and move forward."
West Ham also beat Chelsea back in November, while the Blues have slipped to defeats against Bournemouth, Southampton and Newcastle United as well, so Lampard knows all about what can happen if his side doesn't make the most of their statistical dominance.
"I wouldn't call it a wake up call," he explained. "Every game is different. We have six games ahead of us now and this wasn't a huge surprise.
"If you play in the Premier League and make mistakes, if you boss possession but don't do quite enough with it at the top of the pitch, then it can happen. That's something we already knew.
We have to accept it, this evening. Now it's done and we have to move on to the six games ahead of us."
All four of Chelsea's defenders - César Azpilicueta, Antonio Rüdiger, Andreas Christensen and Marcos Alonso - have faced plenty of criticism for their poor performances during the game, but Lampard did not want to point the finger at his back line.
"No, not let down by the defenders," he added. "We made mistakes in the build up to the goals, not just defenders, which cost us the game."
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Source : 90min