Blue Armour

Regardless of the form of the team in front of him. He has been poor this month. Not a fan of his performances for penalties either. I don't think GK is a big problem area for now, but moving forward, would it make sense to invest in a proven GK? I think Mendy is good, but not sure of his ceiling.

Not sure, but some things I would like to see: Better press from our forwards and midfield. If some players are tired, drop them for others who can put in the effort. CHO replacing Werner on the wing. Werner needs to be dropped period, and return as sub. Or, if he must start, start in a more central role (either in a 3-4-3 or ST role) Short term turnaround could be achieved simply by having Ziyech return. His range of passing covers up for several deficiencies in Lampard's team.

Unrelated, but I miss the times from seasons gone-by when he used to visit the dressing room whenever the team was on a bad run of results. Used to really put a rocket up the team's arse. Recent Chelsea teams have been missing that bit of motivation or fear.

Not sure if stubborn is the word I would choose, but I see your point, and its something I mentioned in the Giroud thread. He becomes too comfortable with a tactic and beats it to death through overuse. In this match, I don't think it was as simple as formation change though. The team was very poor with the press, and allowed Arsenal into our final third too many times within a short span of time in that first half. In our best run of form this season, what was the most noteworthy aspect of our team? It was not really the 4-3-3, but more to do with the way our forwards and midfield did a coordinated press on the opposition. That's also the main reason why we shipped very few goals in that period. That kind of intensity, which Lampard talked about, SHOULD come from the manager. You can blame 1 or 2 players for being guilty, but when the bulk of the team fails, he should be pushing them a lot harder. Its happened many times, not just this season, under Lampard. This is one area, among others, that I would like to see more improvement (in terms of consistency)

Tbf, throwing players under the bus isn't anything unique. Even Klopp did it after the Fulham game. BUT,..the manager's standing in the team and the mental makeup of the squad will the affect the reaction. Klopp has a lot of clout within the team, and has churned out champions, so he will get more leeway. Also it depends on how often he pulls this card (of throwing the players under the bus). Perfectly fine for one-off games. But if the team enters a rut in form, and he uses this as his standard response, that's going to be trouble. If the team strongly disagrees with Lampard's selections and tactics, it will eventually rub them the wrong way. Players that are frequently alienated could sow discontent. To be honest, I prefer to see some kind of reaction from the manager, whether its directed at himself or the players, instead of someone being diplomatic like Arteta and letting one bad result lead to another. Just wouldn't want to see it after a long run of poor games (although with this result, we have officially entered into that kind of form).

Well, if its any consolation. Arsenal beat United at Old Trafford a few weeks ago by 3 goals., only for Arsenal to end up 15th in the following weeks and United ending up vying for 2nd place right now. (The same United that lost 6-1 this season at home, and crashed out of CL). That's why I'm telling folks to put this game (and this shitty December month) behind them.

I'm talking about right now. Losing to Arsenal, and playing an in-form Villa team in 48 hrs, followed by M City. Failing to win those 2 will really cause Chelsea to drop down the table.

IMO, Arsenal showed a lot of grit today after their first goal. Today's match could be a trailer for Monday if our lot retain the same level of intensity.

Lampard has been unlucky this month with the fixture list, but it's a results business. Hopefully he can get his team motivated in time for the next 5 games.. If he drops too low in the table, the board's patience will wear thin.

Well if anything, it shows how Arsenal are not as shit as everyone is making them out to be. Same with Ole's United. And us. I think everyone should accept (if they haven't already), that all 3 managers and their teams are going to be inconsistent, at least for a while The question is, what is their ceiling and how long will they take to stamp out the negatives? Ole is on 2 years, Lampard 1.5 years, Arteta 1 year. It goes back to the post that Tomo made a couple of weeks back. No matter how much flak he deserves for today's result, or our points tally so far, you have to admit he has made some improvements, notably defensively. Is the rate of progress enough? It depends on what the cost is. i.e, where are we ending up on the table. To me, this season, the buck stops if we fail to break top 4. Maybe the board has a higher target, but until then we can AFFORD to give him more time. . Next season, the bar will obviously be higher.

Crap that sounds like Moyes' United team. That has become our go to tactic this month. Its like one of the crutches that Lampard leans on, whenever something worked in the previous few games (in this decent wing play from our full-backs)

Its not good. I was worried about this before the W Ham game, and that win changed my mood slightly.. Regardless, I hope we get some fortune in the next 2 games. Can't afford to lose so much pace with the rest of the top 4 contenders in such a short span of time.

Frank is most culpable. Leaders on the pitch can help, but it is primarily the coach's responsibility. As far as I can see, we have dropped several levels of intensity ever since the Leed's game. I'm not making predictions here, but just calling out what I see. Making/not making top 4 isn't a given at this stage. And while we can scrutinize Frank intensely during the match, it will take a lot more matches (and poor results importantly) for the board to budge.

I'm telling you what I said before the West Ham game. The team looks like it has 'given up' because the title charge is no longer realistic. The intensity of the team in matches going forward will be up and down,...basically doing enough in games to try and slink into the top 4.

True this. I had a feeling that at least one of our regular FB's would be fit for this match. Was surprised to see BOTH, and BOTH of them start given the situation. Even from a rotation perspective (keeping Villa in mind), he should have considered dropping one and playing them in the next match.

Everyone is angry, understandably, but I hope this match doesn't ruin anyone's day. If you're going to hold onto the rage and expectation that something drastic happens in the next 24 hrs, like Lampard getting sacked, forget it. Not going to happen. Also a 4th defeat doesn't do anything much at this point other than more or less confirm that we're not title challengers in anyway. We were always going to drop points in this match. And I mean just by the stats alone. (Not because its destiny or a Christmas present for Arsenal). I'm repeating what I said. Arsenals first penalty against Chelsea since 2007. Arsenal's first direct free kick against Chelsea since 2004. That, along with the outrageous goals from Sako, missed penalty from Jorginho. This was a seriously warped result. All it took was a little lack of intensity from the Chelsea players to produce this perfect storm of a result.

Looks like the slump is officially here. The W Ham result was only delaying the inevitable. The team sees that the PL title charge is no longer realistic, and have given up. Prepare to see up and down results like this until the last third of fixtures, when they decide to get their tails up to try and sneak into top 4. Symptomatic of Chelsea post-2015.

First Arsenal penalty against Chelsea since 2007 First Arsenal direct free kick against Chelsea since Henry in 2004. Arsenal, a side with 5 points from their last 10 games are 2-0 up Its like the clock was itching for this to happen.

Yes, it was so obvious. Regardless of how it actually happened, the math showed it was only matter of time before Arsenal got their tails up again. Its stupid. And this overreaction is even more ridiculous. Can guarantee a lot of Arsenal fans will be clamoring for Arteta to stay and get backed. A lot of Chels fans will claim that Mikel is a better manager. Anyway, regardless of the horrendous 45 mins. Still not ruling us out. 2-0 goal leads are not unassailable. And definitely not against a team in this position of the league

Fucking knew this script was written. Doesn't matter who we had in charge, or who was starting. This is how the game was going to pan out

Didn't realize Liverpool & Tottenham were getting an extra day of rest. Thought it was just Man Utd. Scumbags, the lot of them. Greedy, just like the arseholes at FIFA who push for international fixtures in these times.

Fucking annoying...and he's not the only one. Almost everyone and their dog is saying that Arsenal are due a Christmas present, and apparently we should oblige by sticking to the script. So many things killing the pre-match mood.

Hazard is one of the best things to ever happen to Chelsea, both on and off the pitch. IMO, single handedly defined an era at this club, just like Drogba/Lampard/Terry did.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-9054745/As-January-fast-approaches-winners-losers-transfer-window.html Interesting to see a relatively unbiased article from the Mail, considering all the flak they've given Timo (some of it rightfully)

Kante slipped in that corner which led to their goal. Thankfully he already slipped when playing West Ham last game. So hopefully that means he's fulfilled his quota for this week. Or at least this month. Or this season.