Arsenal vs Chelsea
5:30pm - 1/7/20
Wembley Stadium - FA Cup Final.
At 6:50pm yesterday a familiar sight was broadcast on the BBC to millions of Chelsea fans. Hector Bellerin ran from deep inside his own half, escaped Pedro and Kovacic, and rounded Rudiger as if he wasn't even there. This left the 3 Chelsea defenders facing 4 galloping red shirts. The ball found Pepe after a Christensen tackle, although if Alonso remembered how to actually play football he would have intercepted. Pepe slipped the ball to Aubameyang in acres of space, who sent Zouma the wrong way before chipping Caballero for his 2nd of the match.
That 10 second clip succinctly sums up Chelsea’s failings this season, basic man-marking, reading of the game and positional awareness. Taking nothing away from Aubameyang’s individual brilliance, with a goal worthy of winning any cup final, too many times this season has Chelsea conceded by calamitous defending after going a goal up. Lampard spoke post-game and said “today we were slow, played back on ourselves and invited pressure on us, we just didn't perform well enough to win a final ''.
Perhaps it wasn't such a bad thing that Frank Lampard lost his first FA Cup final in charge of Chelsea. (He also lost his first as a player to Arsenal in 2002). Perhaps it wasn't such a bad thing that his defence was exposed badly yet again, similar to the 4-0 loss at Old Trafford almost 12 months previous. Perhaps this is a turning point for Chelsea and a steep learning curve for their manager and his young squad. Obviously winning the FA Cup would have been the cherry on top, after an overall positive maiden season for Lampard, following a fourth placed finish whilst handing 8 academy graduates their debuts (3 of which were involved yesterday). Although beating Arsenal would have handed many of Lampard’s team their first FA Cup, while Olivier Giroud was on course for his 5th.
However, there is an argument to be made that winning yesterday would have papered over some cracks that have troubled Lampard’s team this year, mainly in his backline. All too often this season would Chelsea produce a 10/10 performance one week, only to be sloppy and weak in the next. In November, West Ham picked up their first win at Stamford Bridge in 13 visits. In December, a sublime away win to Spurs was book-ended by home defeats to relegation threatened Bournemouth and Southampton. Last month, superb wins versus Manchester City and Leicester was followed by another loss to West Ham. There has been a tendency by many fans to get too excited and temporarily forget about our weaknesses following a big win. One is perfectly entitled to celebrate and praise their team, but no team should be exempt from valid criticism. Just because Chelsea have brilliantly finished fourth this year does not mean one should ignore the fact that it has been our worst season defensively since 1997 (55 goals conceded).
Unfortunately, inconsistency, collective errors and individual errors have debilitated Chelsea this year. This season, their goalkeeper Kepa holds the worst save percentage of all goalkeepers who have played more than 1,000 minutes in Europe's top 5 leagues, and their 54 conceded league goals means that they have let in more than any side in the top 10. By dropping Kepa for the second time this season in favour of the experienced Caballero, Lampard has sent a clear message to the board that he has lost faith in the world’s most expensive goalkeeper. Rudiger, Zouma, Christensen and Alonso have all had testing seasons coming in and out of the starting 11. Lampard is still undecided on his best CB pairing (or back 3 as seen recently). Reece James has been exempt from some criticism due to his age and inexperience at premier league level, while questions have been raised as to whether captain Azpilicueta is nearing the end of his time at the club.
With the arrivals of Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech this month, and the possible signings of Kai Havertz and Said Benrahma, many Chelsea fans are excited at the prospect of their attacking players scoring bags of goals next season. They will no doubt benefit the squad, however it is widely accepted that defenses win titles, and if Chelsea really want to close the gap on Manchester City and Liverpool, major reinforcements are needed in the form of a goalkeeper, center back and left back. Yesterday Lampard accepted some defensive criticism and hinted at possible departures at Stamford bridge this year. “We have to work defensively as a group but some of the individual errors we’re making have cost us goals and they can’t be there if we want to keep moving forward”. Jan Oblak, Ben Chilwell and Xavier Mbuyamba are amongst the possible signings being mentioned in the media.
With the transfer ban and the departure of Eden Hazard last summer, it is accepted that Lampard has had his hands tied transferwise. Now, in his first summer window that he can spend in, the next 10 weeks will be crucial to recruit the men that will keep Lampard in his job for the foreseeable future. Although a Lampard sacking is unthinkable to some, Chelsea have been ruthless with managers in the Abramovich era. If the same defensive errors begin to occur next season, after a one or two hundred million pound spend, serious questions will be raised as to Lampard’s plans.
Such a poor performance yesterday will allow Lampard to reinforce his transfer wishes to the board, and allow him to be a little more ambitious amidst the coronavirus-induced troubled global transfer market. Perhaps it wasn't such a bad thing that Chelsea lost the FA Cup final, if it means they are challenging for higher honours in the next ⅔ years. It looks set to be a busy transfer window in SW6.