Jase

Who is? I have said this numerous times and I know people will keep on going back to the days of Terry. Yes, he was a great captain but he also played with some leaders in the team - Lampard, Drogba, Cech etc. There was always him or someone else making sure everyone bring their A-game week in week out. Never mind Azpi, this side just doesn't have one such character to do that. Maybe it's how modern football is these days.

Also the same people who keep persisting we should sign Havertz etc and think we can get away with the same defensive players for another season. Pathetic.

It's so dumb how we went from Eden Hazard FC to a more balanced/well rounded team and to Christian Pulisic FC all of a sudden. Pulisic has been great and is our best player right now but christ, I so do not want us to become a one-man team again!

Doesn't excuse the marking for West Ham's goal, especially when we had a warning before that with their disallowed goal. He is crap. We get that. But blaming defenders is only valid till a certain point. Defending set piece was a problem for Lampard at Derby and now it is again. His teams have conceded tons of goals and have not kept a lot of clean sheets. Have seen teams with arguably worse defenders defend better as a unit than us.

I want to give Abraham a bit of a leeway because of the injury problems he has had this season but good god, every time the ball comes to him, it often bounces around and he struggles to control it properly and by the time he does, the opposition is already well equipped to deal with him. If this is his response to facing competition from Werner, then well, he's gonna be enjoying the bench a lot next season.

OH?

Said it before and will say it again, the defensive issues will be Lampard's downfall. The Chelsea connection and/or patience won't last forever.

So it was the players who randomly decided who to mark then, like Azpi marking a much taller Soucek while someone like Abraham was guarding the post!?

Honestly, I do not know what Lampard is trying to do with the midfield anymore. He stuck with the same midfield setup that we played Sarri and I thought okay, maybe he has the same idea as Sarri and/or wants to retain that continuity. But now? He's flipped that midfield around and it has probably become worse and all because he's trying to fit Kante in somehow. It also doesn't seem to help that we have too many options and Lampard is constantly changing the players around. Has anyone nicknamed him The Tinkerer yet?

It's no wonder we can't defend at all when Lampard is saying things like this... FUCKING HELL!

Also, while the continuous hopeless defending has definitely and deservedly taken the spotlight but is anyone feeling unimpressed by our attacking play recently or at least against the smaller, defensive sides? I know those teams defend in numbers and don't make it easy but all I have seen us mostly doing is getting the ball out wide, crossing it in and hoping someone converts it. To make things worse, Alonso or Azpi never varies their crosses. It's always the same kind of crosses! It's so unimaginative, boring and dare I say, Sam Allardyce/Tony Pulis-esque football. Where is the imaginative play? Where is the quick 1-2s around the box? Where is the pass and move, pass and move? Where is the overlapping play? Why are players not trying to take players on more often, dribble past people? Imagine playing Werner up front next season - a 180cm striker - and we keep putting crosses in for him! It's bad and dull.

Lampard's obsession with Kante is becoming unbearable. I can understand the need to play him as the lone defensive midfielder in front of the back 4 against Man City because of our counter attacking game plan. But fucking hell, against teams like Villa and West Ham, playing him there is so useless. It hurts our ability to play out from the back, Kante always takes the safe passing option - sideways and backwards - and it is making my eyes bleed. That in turn also places the onus on Christensen and Rudiger to play attacking passes from the back and just like Kante, they are making my eyes bleed and driving me mad. They are so inconsistent and unadventurous with their passing. Furthermore, it is not like Kante has been 100% perfect in the defensive side of things in this DM role in all of the games so far that you can afford to overlook his lack of attacking capabilities. Not even close. The defending tonight throughout the game, be it in open play or in set piece situations was diabolical, and while we can blame the defenders and keeper, I feel like we need to address the biggest elephant in the room here - Lampard. Defending set pieces was already a problem for him at Derby and now it is a problem here again. Why? What is he and the coaches doing in training? Why do we look like conceding in every set piece situation? Plus, I don't know what's the latest numbers now but his sides have conceded far too many goals and kept too little clean sheets. The defenders are shit and the keeper is shit, yes, but I feel like there has been a negligence from Lampard when it comes to defending. He has talked so much about wanting to close the gap on Liverpool and Man City and yet, we continue to look so porous under him. Imagine trying to close the gap on the top two when we are conceding stupid goals every week and have even conceded more than Arsenal this season (ARSENAL!).

Lampard is just obsessed with Kante, IMO. He's trying shoehorn him into the XI whatever the cost and because it's Kante. Even in this supposedly new DM role, Kante looks neither here nor there, just as he was in the role he played under Sarri.

We have conceded more goals than Arsenal. And we laugh at their defence...

CAN SOMEONE TELL KANTE THAT HE CAN PASS FORWARD?! JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!!

Seriously, how the hell have we become a one-man team again? CHRIST!

It had already begun in the Villa game. If anything, the pandemic has been a blessing in disguise and curse for us.

Had expected this to happen and yet here I am, fuming...

Gonna be sent over the edge watching Rudiger, Christensen and Kante try to play attacking passes. So, so bad.

YUP...

Can Havertz play at LB, CB, RB and GK?

You think he will? He'll just blame the little details etc again, as always.

The larger issue of our shit set piece defending is that it has plagued Lampard since his Derby days. Never solved it then and still hasn't solved it now.

We are fucking useless. We truly are.