Jase

So folks, what do you think the starting XI and formation will be? Those who guess correct could become a Moderator.

Experienced manager or not, one should have a plan, an idea of how to play etc but with all the constant chopping and changing, it is difficult to see one. And no, I wasn't being sympathetic. I was merely stating the point that we do not know whether whatever plan Lampard has in the end will work out or how things will turn out because he doesn't have a track record of doing this. Any indication of whether it will work out in the end depends on what we are seeing now week in week out. Then why are we all here? Why do we even have forums to talk about football at all?

But we try to press on the front foot as opposed to say sitting back and only pressing when the opposition get into certain areas of our half. And it's one thing to press in parts of the game, it's another to press together as a team. I can see the attacking players try to press but the midfielders and defenders just don't do the same. The collective pressing isn't there. It's little wonder why we get passed around and our defence is gotten at so easily every time.

I don't get the point you're trying to make here. Because if we want to take a long term approach to things, then progression has to be more than just results, no? Lampard can talk about how he wants to play and this and that but it's one thing to talk, talk and talk, it's another to put it into practice. Right now, there is a lot unconvincing things we are seeing and we are more than a year into his regime here, not over a month. The problem is Lampard hasn't done this before. He hasn't managed a club at the highest level and hasn't managed high profile players before. He basically doesn't have a track record and we have nothing to fall back on now to say "right, things are now a bit tricky but because he has done this and that in the past, we know things will turn out alright". We can only judge and evaluate his work based on what we see out there in every match. There is only hope or maybe even blind faith that things will turn out fine under Lampard after the unconvincing stuff that we have seen so far.

Hmmm... In any case, I did say that their football may be boring and may have frustrated us at one point or another but at least one could see a plan there. But now...?

Did we? Was it about that?

It's ironic you speculated Mount is being played a lot for continuity purposes when Lampard isn't doing any favors in terms of continuity by constantly chopping and changing the team.

How does one expect the team to form any sort of cohesion, understanding and team chemistry, especially when there are new players, when the team and system are being constantly changed in every single game? How many of the other top teams out there chop and change as often as we do? Because we want to see progression? Because we want to have a way of playing, an identity? You watch us these days or over the last few months, can you tell what our playing style is? You look at some of the other big teams and you can tell what their playing style is and what to expect from them. Do we know that of ours? Under past managers like Mourinho, Conte, Sarri, their football wasn't the most exciting but the way of playing was there, the identity was there. Can the same be said about Lampard? Funny thing is, our pressing game has rarely come off. We don't press effectively as a team and we only press in parts of the game as opposed to sustained pressure throughout. And no, chopping and changing formations for this do not make sense. Liverpool, for example, rarely ever changed their formation and their pressing game is on the money every time.

He is weird. Whenever people are criticizing the manager, for example, he will suddenly come in and back the manager. When people don't criticize the manager, he will be the one to criticize the manager.

Their boring football is one thing but at least one could see what they were trying to do, how they wanted us to play. Can the same be said about Lampard? We don't know what we're gonna get with Lampard in every match and it's been a long, long time since we had any sort of fluidity in our attack and since we put in a complete team performance.

Chelsea 4-0 Crystal Palace PRE/POST-MATCH DISCUSSION, LIVE CHAT AND ANALYSIS 2020/21 Premier League Match 4 3rd October, Saturday 2020 Stamford Bridge 12:30 Kick Off (UK time)

The point here is we're chopping and changing a lot like Emery did at Arsenal, not whether we are good or bad with the stats etc.

Tomo nailed it here, IMO.

This is really no better than Mourinho just relying on individual quality to bail us out of matches.

Come to think of it, surprised this hasn't been mentioned more. Emery was always rotating, chopping and changing Arsenal's team and got panned for it by everyone. But no one has said anything of such about Lampard in the media etc.

Am really curious what exactly did he say to them. What attacking plans or grand idea he sold to them.

Were they? Mendy didn't even go to the correct side once and IIRC, he went to his left for the first 4 penalties and all the goals went to his right. When he went right for the fifth penalty, the goal went to his left. I mean...LOL.

And Conte made Moses a championship winning RWB.

Am really puzzled by how much the missing players are being used as an excuse for Lampard and for our poor displays so far. Sure, we will be better when the likes of Pulisic, Ziyech are back to full fitness but is their absence really an excuse for how clueless we have looked, how we do not look to have an identity? Whenever we play now, does anyone have any idea how we are going to play, what's our general game plan gonna be like, what's our system etc? Compare Lampard to our previous 3 permanent managers - Mourinho, Conte and Sarri. They didn't have the right players they want but immediately, we could at least tell how they want us to play. They set about their system, ideas, game plan etc. With Mourinho, it was 4-2-3-1 and it was pragmatic. With Conte, it was 3-4-3 and it was pragmatic. With Sarri, it was 4-3-3 and he wanted us to dominate possession and attack the opposition. They weren't always pretty and am sure we have been frustrated by them at one point or another but at least the plan, the system, the idea were there. But with Lampard? Sure, some players are out at the moment but he's been here for over a year and every match is basically a guessing game over the system, game plan and starting XI. It's hard to know what he is trying to do and what to expect anymore when there is no consistency whatsoever.

Am really puzzled by how much the missing players are being used as an excuse for Lampard and for our poor displays so far. Sure, we will be better when the likes of Pulisic, Ziyech are back to full fitness but is their absence really an excuse for how clueless we have looked, how we do not look to have an identity? Whenever we play now, does anyone have any idea how we are going to play, what's our general game plan gonna be like, what's our system etc? Compare Lampard to our previous 3 permanent managers - Mourinho, Conte and Sarri. They didn't have the right players they want but immediately, we could at least tell how they want us to play. They set about their system, ideas, game plan etc. With Mourinho, it was 4-2-3-1 and it was pragmatic. With Conte, it was 3-4-3 and it was pragmatic. With Sarri, it was 4-3-3 and he wanted us to dominate possession and attack the opposition. They weren't always pretty and am sure we have been frustrated by them at one point or another but at least the plan, the system, the idea were there. But with Lampard? Sure, some players are out at the moment but he's been here for over a year and every match is basically a guessing game over the system, game plan and starting XI. It's hard to know what he is trying to do and what to expect anymore when there is no consistency whatsoever.

Caballero wasn't even on the bench.

Decent debut all around but he might as well be a ghost in that penalty shootout. Even Kepa might have saved something...