Chelsea caretaker manager Frank Lampard has claimed that his team is lacking in confidence and not in their drive to win after their Premier League loss to city rivals Brentford.
Lampard has lost five of the five games he has managed for Chelsea since signing a short-term caretaker contract with the club following their sacking of Graham Potter.
His stock as a Chelsea legend is falling greatly with fans and the club’s owners are being piled upon for their decision making which has seen them run through three managers in their first season. The current loss struck a nerve for many associated with the club because the modest London side have now officially made themselves into rivals for the great Chelsea, which, to many, is unbecoming of a club of their stature.
Following the unfortunate loss on Wednesday night that condemned them to a possible relegation scrap in the next few games, Lampard has now come out to backtrack on the opinion he expressed in the second week of his tenure as the club’s caretaker coach.
The 44-year-old earlier held the opinion that his team were unserious and unable to apply themselves in games. Now, he claims it is a matter of confidence that their application is not lacking.
Speaking to the media after the loss on Wednesday night, the former Everton manager said: “I feel for the players a bit because at the moment they are low on confidence. Everyone is around 30 per cent lower on confidence.
“It’s not an application thing. You control the game, you create some chances, but when we get them, we are not taking them. We are lacking the belief when we get to the top end of the pitch.
“Brentford are good at what they do. We dominated the second half, but they scored on a breakaway. The details of the game are pretty clear.
“I just told the players it is not a sob story that everything is going against us, but I can’t talk about any application things about the squad. They are trying everything, they are really disappointed in the dressing room and the fans should have no doubt about that.”
Chelsea will now hope to salvage what is left of their season when they face league leaders Arsenal on May 2. It might seem somewhat ironic but the Blues are taking on the Gunners at a time where they are equally suffering a slump in form. On paper, the Gunners are clearly favourites but it is closer than it is in reality, based on current form that is.
