Frank Lampard

[Henrique 9,133]

José rest Hazard but keeps playing Lampard game after game.

I really dont understand that.

[The only place to be 11,313]

José rest Hazard but keeps playing Lampard game after game.

I really dont understand that.

Jose rested Hazard because Jose has other option in Hazard's position.

Jose doesn't have other options for a three man midfield when he only has three midfielders available. Van Ginkel's injury is hitting us harder than anyone probably imagined.

[lucio 5,418]

Jose rested Hazard because Jose has other option in Hazard's position.

Jose doesn't have other options for a three man midfield when he only has three midfielders available. Van Ginkel's injury is hitting us harder than anyone probably imagined.

give essien a run out. he coped very well vs arsenal

or use kdb or oscar in lampard 4-3-3 role

but of course we will see lampard dragging his heavy legs onto the pitch to get steamrolled by wanyama and sneiderlin

[Ryan Fong 2,776]

Jose rested Hazard because Jose has other option in Hazard's position.

Jose doesn't have other options for a three man midfield when he only has three midfielders available. Van Ginkel's injury is hitting us harder than anyone probably imagined.

That's not true, Oscar could really do well there, even KdB is worth a shot.

[The only place to be 11,313]

give essien a run out. he coped very well vs arsenal

or use kdb or oscar in lampard 4-3-3 role

but of course we will see lampard dragging his heavy legs onto the pitch to get steamrolled by wanyama and sneiderlin

There are over four days between now and the Southampton game. I think that's enough time for him to recover and put in another performance like the one he did against West Ham.

Look, if he puts in a good performance and we win people will be happy. And if he puts in a bad performance and we lose, well a lot of people will still be happy.

That's not true, Oscar could really do well there, even KdB is worth a shot.

Now we're getting into the realms of 'maybes'.

Neither of those has played there for us so I don't know if they could do a job.

[BleedsBlue 1,549]

This forum will go crazy if he starts against Southampton.Jose seriously needs to rest Lampard and Iva for the weekend game.They've played a lot and require at least one game on the bench.

[Ryan Fong 2,776]

Now we're getting into the realms of 'maybes'.

Neither of those has played there for us so I don't know if they could do a job.

Not for us I know but Oscar has shown what he is capable of and he has every bit of quality to play in that position. He was excellent to play deeper for Brazil if it counts for reference.

[Styles 9,790]

There are over four days between now and the Southampton game. I think that's enough time for him to recover and put in another performance like the one he did against West Ham.

Look, if he puts in a good performance and we win people will be happy. And if he puts in a bad performance and we lose, well a lot of people will still be happy.

Now we're getting into the realms of 'maybes'.

Neither of those has played there for us so I don't know if they could do a job.

Southampton are much better than West Ham. They are very athletic and press incredibly hard. West Ham are one of the worst teams we will play all season, having that as a yardstick of Lampard's ability and importance to the team is misguided. We saw how he fared last night against an antletic and aggresive pressing team and I fear Lampard will really struggle again if he plays on Sunday.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Southampton are much better than West Ham. They are very athletic and press incredibly hard. West Ham are one of the worst teams we will play all season, having that as a yardstick of Lampard's ability and importance to the team is misguided. We saw how he fared last night against an antletic and aggresive pressing team and I fear Lampard will really struggle again if he plays on Sunday.

Unfortunately there's not much we can do about it except look for him to have a good game. West Ham might be weak but he put in a very hard-working performance against West Ham and we applied enough pressure to disrupt whatever gameplan they had. We can't approach Southampton afraid of how they might force us to play, because we're a better team than them.

It's not like the other options are markedly better either. Mikel had a shit game at the St. Marys last season, but he probably has to play as well and reach the levels he did against West Ham.

Like always, it's easy to say why we shouldn't do something but harder to say what we should do.

[Thendo 1,088]

Asbolutely. That is how he should be being utilized, but unfortunately one of the club's failings this summer was to sign the experienced, established CM we all wanted; ie. Alonso or de Rossi. Yes, we signed MvG, but the issue was he was only going to play every now and again as a young man learning his trade. I know he is hardly a midfield saviour, but I do feel we should be playing Essien more to relieve the strain on Lamps. The less he plays, the fitter he'll be; and it is when he is performing his box-to-box role that he is at his best. We can't expect him to put in the lung-busting shifts he was able to do before his lengthy lay-off in 2010/11. He's an old man, in footballing terms, and we have to respect that. Sadly, we have to play him because the club made a bad call in leaving us with just five recognised CMs this season for three positions in a 4-3-3, or two positions in the 4-2-3-1.

I agree completely, he will have much more of an positive impact on the game if we play him less often. As it is now I really hope The Bison starts on Sunday instead of Lamps if we go for the 4-3-3, shame he isn't in our CL-squad. Otherwise I would like to see Oscar or maybe even KdB trying to adapt playing alongside Ramires and Mikel because we really need a solution for this problem especially now when we go through one of the most hectic periods of the season in december.

In the January window we really need to make this our primary objective.

[Styles 9,790]

Unfortunately there's not much we can do about it except look for him to have a good game. West Ham might be weak but he put in a very hard-working performance against West Ham and we applied enough pressure to disrupt whatever gameplan they had. We can't approach Southampton afraid of how they might force us to play, because we're a better team than them.

It's not like the other options are markedly better either. Mikel had a shit game at the St. Marys last season, but he probably has to play as well and reach the levels he did against West Ham.

Like always, it's easy to say why we shouldn't do something but harder to say what we should do.

We have better individuals but I'd say they work better as a unit having watched them several times this season. Whatever game-plan we have rarely seems to work and we get by on moments of individual brilliance.

Fair enough we're short on numbers in the middle of the park so underperforming players will have to be played through poor form. The MVG injury is really starting to take its toll.

It'd be great if Jose got creative and tried to use players like De Buryne/Oscar deeper which allowed Mata more minutes.

[The Skipper 20,609]

We played what was essentially a three man midfield against West Ham and had great success, so why would you change that for Basel?

The problem then arises that we only have three men who play in that midfield role available. Essien wasn't registered and Van Ginkel is out injured so who exactly was available?

All three midfielders were awful last night, and they can't all be dropped for Southampton. I'm sure some will now say Lampard has been awful all season (as they had been doing incorrectly before the West Ham game) but there's an extended rest between now and the Southampton game and I'd back a few of those players to get back to the level they were at on Saturday.

Yeah I agree but Mourinho really should've rested the likes of Oscar, Lamps, Ramires etc.

There was no need to start them IMO especially when we have Southampton on the weekend. Jose got it wrong in that aspect and he knows it - there's no reason to play a 35 year old in every game when we have other players who are more than capable of stepping up and putting in a performance.