Jase

I wonder if 4-3-3 will still be the main formation like next season. It might be the best fit now but that could all change when we continue to revamp the squad.

TBH, Pulisic's pass for the first one was not the best and he did everything right for the second opportunity, the bar (and luck) just happened to be in the way.

Mourinho didn't really have one when his was (and still is) more about letting individuals do the attacking work. Sarri has one in theory but never really came off and we ended up relying on Hazard to do something in the final third. Considering Lampard has been here for 18 months and not 18 weeks, I don't think it's unfair to expect a little more cohesive than what we see at times, some tactical ingenuity from him. Does not mean we should not expect at all since Lampard is the manager of Chelsea FC after all. You see young managers elsewhere and you can identify their ideas, style etc. And this was always gonna be a problem when the club decided to hire Lampard. Normally, young managers would hone their skills, get the experience etc at smaller clubs first before getting the big job. But Lampard got the big job after only 1 year of experience as a manager and we basically became an "experimental ground" for Lampard. We want to be successful but at the same time, we also live and die by Lampard's own inexperience and some times naive mistakes. One best hope that his inexperience doesn't hold us back too much and too long from challenging and winning titles.

Think it'll be hard to find a Chelsea fan who will be pleased with the performance. We were fortunate to win, never mind fortunate to win it 3-0!

The number of goals scored would have been higher had Werner not missed all those chances but alas. 😭

Our record when Werner and Abraham have started together this season: 9 games 7 wins 2 draws 24 goals scored

Don't know about others but I've been saying from the very start, back in September, that Werner is being wasted out wide. Before anyone jumps the gun, am not making excuses for his misses and this has gotta do with how he is being used (TWO DIFFERENT THINGS!), Werner is having to spend an awful lot of energy in wide areas and not in areas where he can consistently hurt the opposition. We bought him for 50 million to be a striker, not to constantly track runners back on the flanks. If he doesn't score goals, then he doesn't contribute anything else from wide areas. Then that in turn just exposes him as a non-existent threat. I assume we might switch to a 4-2-3-1 if/when we get better midfielders in but don't think we have played that formation yet with Mendy and Silva in the side? Havertz was still tentative at best. He hasn't dominated a match or really imposed himself on the opposition. And if we've got to rely on one player to make us thick going forward again, then we've got problems. Said it before and I'll say it again, the club didn't spend all that money in the summer just to see us rely on one player to make us look good. Fine, I can still reluctantly accept going into the Everton game with 4-3-3 based on pre-game form but on the flip side, just like Werner, Havertz isn't a wide player. So, starting 4-3-3 then made little sense and it was further compounded by two things - (a) Havertz was disastrous and no one else turned up at Goodison and (b) as you pointed out, Lampard changed nothing at all then and in the Wolves game too. That is why I find it strange that Lampard went from changing too much to not even changing it all when required. We don't want to be in another situation where like Conte and Sarri before him, Lampard sticks with the same formation all the time even when it's not working. It's a good thing that he hasn't gone overboard with the changes this season but he also needs to learn that he should look to change things when it's not working. Needs to find that balance.

At this point, whatever. You are clearly seeing only from the perspective that Lampard is faultless and he can do no wrong. And also, you have gone somewhat undetected long enough.

Since Arsenal need any sort of win right now to boost confidence, wonder how strong will Arteta go with the lineup against Man City tonight, especially when they have 2 days of rest after the game on Saturday.

If Werner is not being used as a winger, then his heatmaps wouldn't have been so concentrated out wide, regardless of whether we see the ball often or not. And a lot of people can see that Werner is not being used properly, that's for sure. I kept using CHO as an example because he was available with Ziyech and Lampard still didn't want to use him. Sure, you can put it down to the lack of trust but doesn't this say something about Lampard? He would rather play a non winger in a winger's position than an actual winger. Before we forget, CHO is the same player Lampard and the club want to keep from Bayern but is reluctant to have trust in him. Also, Pulisic is injury prone. Can we really be confident that he will be fit for a stretch of games and be able to play alongside Ziyech? If Ziyech is available but Pulisic is out injured again, then what? Play Werner as a winger on the LW again? But don't think anyone said he should be sacked if we don't get 80 points regardless of where we finish. The reason why there's been a "hoopla" is because we saw the old bad habits resurfaced again in those 2 defeats - e.g. bad game management from Lampard - and it's similar to when you reacted after the Southampton, when the old bad habits resurfaced despite only 1 defeat in the opening 7 games of the season. There are many ways to skin a cat. For every Barcelona, who traditionally have the 4-3-3 embedded through the ranks at the club, there is another who dominate and win things their own way, without having a fixed system through the club etc.

For the record, I never said you were wrong. Just thought the sudden change of tact again was "strange", to put it kindly especially when you said he should be sacked if we don't get 80 points. The ironic thing is Lampard stumbled upon the 4-3-3 by accident, not that he suddenly came to know about the existence of the formation but the things that suddenly work. He certainly did not have a set system in place when the season started. I agree the chopping and changing from last season was ridiculous but I don't think there's anything ridiculous if we change the formation like once every 5 or 10 games if/when needed. Most managers do it anyway. We used to change between 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 during Mourinho's second spell here for example. They have actually. Barcelona have been playing 4-2-3-1 at times under Koeman, for instance. They even played 4-4-2/4-4-1-1 against Bayern last season under Quique Setien.

cc @Tomo

Malouda was a strange one to say the least. He was only really good for 1.5 seasons after Hiddink replaced Scolari and in Ancelotti's first season. Otherwise, he was just underwhelming.

He made runs into central areas against Wolves, just like he does in every other game, but he still spent a big chunk of that game out wide, as seen in that heatmap. Moreover, if Werner is not playing like a traditional LW and he is playing centrally as you claimed, then explain this... Right now? Yes and I would have agreed with this except for the fact that Lampard had CHO and Ziyech available together at one point - Pulisic was out during that period - and Lampard still chose to play Werner out on the left instead of CHO. So, is there any guarantee that Lampard would not play Werner out wide even when we have all our wingers available? But as I mentioned in other posts, what does Werner do apart from getting at the end of chances when being used out wide? We practically have a non-existent threat from one of the flanks because we know he is not a winger and he is not going to beat players to create chances. It is just whether he can get at the end of the chances. I mean, we spent 50 million on him and this is how we are gonna use him? And as I also said above, Lampard had CHO and Ziyech available at the same time at one point but he still chose to shoehorn Werner out wide and leave CHO out in the cold. Hell YES and that's because I have been saying it since September, long before he had a good goalscoring run and is in this current goal drought, that he is being wasted out wide.

No one said it would have worked for sure but at least try to change it. Otherwise, never try, never know? We also had wingers available during the unbeaten run but no winger was available at Everton. You know what you said about Lampard back then. It wasn't just because of what happened against Southampton. The Southampton game was straw that broke the camel's back for you. And you even said Lampard should be sacked if we don't get at least 80 points this season, regardless of where we finish. And lastly... I praise him when it's due and criticize him when it's due. If everything was really going smoothly, I wouldn't be sitting here and questioning him at all. In fact, don't think anyone would but the fact that we are, suggests something is not quite right at the moment.

Easy for you to say that now because we wouldn't be able to find out what would have happened. And just because we have struggled at Everton in recent years, it doesn't mean we should just accept our fate, does it? What kind of mindset is that!? The ironic thing about is there were people who pointed out we should change formation for the Everton game. The 4-3-3 was working well before then because we had the players for it but that wasn't the case at Everton, was it? And I see you have gone from blindly supporting Lampard to doubting Lampard and now back to blindly supporting Lampard.

Really? Below are some examples of his recent heatmaps... Werner is still making some runs into central areas, like Pulisic from wide areas, but do those look like someone who is "playing quite centrally and infact the same channels"? Also have more where those came from. But at the same time, Werner also mentioned his role here is much different than what it was at RB Leipzig and even Lampard himself said it last week. Do people just not bothered to read posts anymore? Who the hell is blaming Lampard for Werner's poor finishing? Make no mistake, Werner's poor finishing is on him but people really need to differentiate the difference between the issue of Werner missing chances and the issue of how Werner is being used in the team right now. The latter is no excuse for the former but it is certainly an issue.

He didn't play the full game every time but Abraham went through a similar goal drought last season, on either side of the lockdown, and people wanted him gone. 🤷‍♂️

Without taking anything away from us from those wins, the Leeds game suited us because of how Bielsa plays while every team have beaten Sheffield United this season unless you happen to be Fulham and Brighton. I agree with you about the 4-3-3 and I also thought it works well for the team the moment Lampard switched to it at Krasnodar - also fair to note that he stumbled upon it considering he was chopping and changing it before then - but the more we play it, the more obvious that it does not fit Werner and likely even Havertz at all. Unless Werner scores regularly, he is lost out wide while Havertz has not had a really strong game, dominant game (that Barnsley game is not counted and we weren't even playing 4-3-3 in that one, IIRC). I do not think Roman agreed to spend more than 100 million on those two, only to see Lampard struggle to fit them into a cohesive system with the rest (and before anyone jumps in, am not talking about Werner's missed chances!). Lampard went overboard with the chopping and changing of system and personnel last season and while the consistent selection this season has been good, that does not mean he should stick with it for the sake of it if he doesn't have the personnel for it, like at Everton or even Wolves last week. We had no wingers against Everton, for example, but Lampard decided to persist with 4-3-3 anyway and look what happened. Klopp rarely changes his system but his system has everyone in that Liverpool side firing and there's no real reason to change. Can the same be said about us? As for Guardiola, his main issue is that he overthinks things and changes the system for no good reason, even when he has all the players available to play his main one.

The pass from Pulisic yesterday in the first half wasn't the best but otherwise, I don't really have much to say about Werner's misses. But the main point here is not even about Werner's misses anymore. It is about how he is being used tactically. The fact that you only mentioned his misses reiterates my point even more and heck, we only ever talk about his misses and nothing else. It is clear as hell that Werner is NOT a winger but is being used like one. Whenever Werner has been used out wide, we practically lose an attacking outlet from the flanks because he is not going to dribble past players, he is not going to beat them consistently and create chances for us. His attacking numbers have all gone down this season - and I am not just talking about his goals or even those missed chances - and his defensive numbers have suddenly gone up from last season. Is that what we want? Again, it is clear as hell that his position, his role are completely different than at RB Leipzig. They played to his strengths and got the best out of him. Lampard mentioned this last week and Werner did too pre-West Ham but are we getting the best out of Werner? Are we playing him in the right role? Werner was successful in Germany because he was used correctly from a tactical POV, he was allowed to shine in a system that maximize his strengths and minimize his flaws and Leipzig's system was not even centered around him only. But we bought him and are using him in a completely a different role, different system that were not what made him successful in the Bundesliga and one of the most coveted strikers in football in the first place prior to joining us. Why? I am not saying we should change our system to just fit Werner here but he clearly does not fit this 4-3-3 and especially the role he has in this system. So, why did we spend 50 million on Werner if we are not going to use him properly and play to his strengths? Why did Lampard not just go buy an out-and-out winger instead if this is how he is going to use Werner? I feel sorry for Werner at this point because despite all his effort, his confidence looks shot all of a sudden, nothing is going his way in front of goal - be it by his own design or the stupid woodwork - and is being ridiculed for his performances when he is not even being utilized properly.

James won't be fit for this one.

Seems to be a common thing for fans these days to underrate our ex players all of a sudden. Another one is Lampard, who people think he didn't have a good passing ability and range.