Stat epitomises Frank Lampard’s questionable decision-making during Chelsea’s defeat at Arsenal

Posted by

Twenty-six crosses into the Arsenal penalty area – and not one of them was met by Olivier Giroud.

That was the reality for Chelsea at the Emirates this afternoon, with the Blues falling to a shock 3-1 defeat to their London rivals, who have been the disappointment of the Premier League season to date.

Chelsea looked clueless in attack at times, struggling to find an adequate final pass and instead flinging the ball into the box in the direction of Tammy Abraham, who already showed during the Tottenham stalemate that heading is not his forte.

MORE: Frank Lampard shifts blame onto Chelsea players in scathing post-match interview after Arsenal defeat

Twenty-six times, to be precise. That’s how many times it was hoofed into the Arsenal box.

The real question is, and it’s one that plenty of Chelsea fans will find themselves asking, if the game plan was to put Arsenal under pressure with balls into the box, why did Giroud not get a minute?

We’re talking about a man who has scored nine goals in his last nine appearances for club and country. One of the most effective on the planet when it comes to getting on the end of crosses.

Why, with Chelsea 2-0 down at half-time, did Jorginh o and Callum Hudson-Odoi come on, and then later Kai Havertz? It’s absolutely inexcusable from Lampard to have shunned him entirely today.

More Stories Frank Lampard Olivier Giroud

9 Comments

  1. Lampard can not take chelsea to the next level.
    He’s a good coach but Chelsea is bigger than him .
    He should be sacked ,let him go learn more about coaching

  2. This club is to big for Frank. Not enough experience to manage big players and he looks way out of is depth. Needs to be replaced with a more experienced manager ASAP

  3. He shouldn’t have started his managerial career at Chelsea. He could have become the manager in W few years time after gaining experience. The problem is that he is struggling even with all the money they have spent. There is no excuse. He is an average manager at the moment. If he gets sacked he’d probably never get to manage Chelsea again. If he’d waited and gained the experience he could have been a top manager. It’s the same with Arteta. They can’t cope when things are going against them and can’t man manage. Gerrard has done it the correct way, managing Rangers and doing extremely well, gaining experience and confidence.

  4. Y in the world wud he start witout giroud or atleast werner as a top 9?Tamy is a premireship striker.No mo a lampad fan

    1. Why Lampard over looking Giroud, this is a player that meant to covert those 26 crosses in Arsenal box 18 into goals for at least 2,3 or 4 goals for Chelsea in that match.

  5. Why Lampard over looking Giroud, this is a player that meant to covert those 26 crosses in Arsenal box 18 into goals for at least 2,3 or 4 goals for Chelsea in that match.

  6. The sooner he goes the better , hes always gwtting it VERY WRONG in team selctionesp. Big matches . Against ManU he left out exp..players , did it with lvpool n today .Sticking with Werner/ Havert whov hardly settled in Epl.. Loose agnst A.Villa today will be ablessing .

Comments are closed