‘We were too nice’ – Lampard assesses Chelsea’s defeat to Arsenal

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard delivered a damning yet honest assessment of his side’s performance in the disappointing 3-1 defeat to Arsenal in the Premier League tonight.

The first-half performance from the Blues was poor by all standards. They were passive, lackadaisical, bereft of ideas in attack and porous in defence, and Arsenal made them pay for their naivety.

Granit Xhaka and Martin Odegaard combined twice and in a similar fashion as the Gunners raced to a two-goal lead inside the opening half an hour.

Gabriel Jesus then added insult to injury, pouncing on a scrap in the 18-yard area to smash home a third for Mikel Arteta’s side just three minutes after Odegaard bagged his brace.

The scoreline flattered the Blues, who could not have been any more embarrassing, with Arsenal cruising into easy street in the opening period.

Chelsea reacted in the second half with Noni Madueke pulling one back, but it proved only a consolation as the damage had already been done.

In his post-match interview, Lampard claimed his players did not execute what they had planned before the game as he bemoaned a terrible first-half performance from his side.

“The first-half performance was not good enough, in every way,” Lampard told ChelseaTV.

“We were too nice to play against, nice off the ball, passive, things we talked about before the game defensively we did not do. 

“We did not restrict the space between lines. We did not get the line up as much as we needed to, we did not affect pressure on the ball and we did not make contact with Arsenal players.

“On the ball the same, passing short, playing to position, not playing longer, not making forward runs. Things that we spoke about, and if you play like that, you get what you deserve.”

Lampard has lost five games in a row since becoming caretaker manager. The Englishman has won just one of his last 20 games (D2, L17).

His lack of tactical acumen was on display against the title-chasing Gunners, with the Blues failing to even get the basics right as they were second best across every department.

Chelsea’s fixture run does not get any easier with a trip to the in-form Bournemouth on the horizon.

The former Everton boss is running out of time to prove he deserves another managerial chance following an appalling interim spell at Stamford Bridge.