Some people were surprised by Chelsea’s defeat against West Ham on Wednesday night. West Ham was able to get a last-minute goal to win 3-2. This caused Chelsea manager, Frank Lampard, to get upset with his team.
Chelsea was able to maintain a 2-2 tie for a while. Then West Ham’s Andriy Yarmolenko scored in the 89 minute of the game.
Had Chelsea won, they would’ve moved to third place in Premier League. Leicester is currently in third and lost to Everton yesterday. Therefore, continuing the close race for third.
Lampard wants to remind his team that they have to stay concentrated and challenge themselves mentally to play better in future games.
“It’s been a good season but there have been so many of these moments,” Lampard told Sky Sports.
“We had an opportunity today to go third but you have to do every part of the game to get results. If you switch off or make one or two errors then you will encourage teams. Players have to show an extra mentality to get through these games.
“I get to see this group closely and I’ve seen us play great games then have moments where there’s the opportunity to capitalize and that’s the difference at the moment. We have work to do.”
Lampard wants to keep it in perspective for the team. Since they are in fourth place, they are in the driving seat to qualify for Champions League next year. That means that they have to stay positive and on their game. However, this doesn’t change the fact that Lampard and the team know that they should have won against West Ham.
“There’s without a doubt a good group of players in there but then when you analyze the consistency, you feel a game like this is coming. Again, that shows there’s work to do.
“If we are opening up to try and score that winning goal then we have to be prepared to run back the other way and defend. And defend better.
“We are two points ahead of Manchester United, who have been playing fantastic and are on a great run, Wolves are having a great season and they’re behind us, Leicester have had a great season and we’re just behind them.
“It’s about perspective. We are upset because we wanted to win the game, we’re footballers and we’re in a good position. So there’s no point in being down but I can’t help but say the truth today which is that it’s a game we should have won tonight.”
Lampard’s frustration for the team makes complete sense. West Ham is a good team, but they’re consistently in the middle. They’re in the 16 place, while Chelsea sits in fourth. Hopefully, Chelsea can concentrate and finish the season well to qualify for Champions League.
