Liverpool thumped two goals past a 10-man Chelsea side in the Premier League this weekend but Frank Lampard is desperately trying to focus only on the positives from the game.
‘There were a lot of things I was happy about with our defensive game,’ said the boss, after the match.
‘I wanted us to be better on the ball. We showed moments on the counter-attack where we were dangerous, Timo [Werner] had a couple of good opportunities but to limit them to the chances they got in the first half, there were a lot of things I was pleased about.
‘I’m disappointed to lose three points as you always will and should be but I’m actually happier today in many ways than I was at Brighton.
‘I saw spirit, desire to defend by a lot of our defenders – Reece James, Kurt Zouma, Fikayo Tomori when he came on.
‘The midfield were giving everything to block gaps and you play half a game with 10 men, you don’t make that mistake for the second goal, you score the penalty – then it’s 1-1. I know that’s not football and I can’t reflect on that but those are the realities.
‘The players should take heart, it’s how we go forward from here now.
‘My team talk at half-time was to be more confident on the ball because we had little moments where we received it in midfield and got our full-backs in the game. That’s how we needed to carry on going forward but then the red card changes the whole team talk.’
Chelsea had managed to keep Liverpool at bay for the entirety of the first half but as soon as they went down to 10 men, Lampard had to throw his initial plan out of the window.
The Blues looked disjointed for most of the second half but the reality is that Lampard is also dealing with a lot of new arrivals and he’s trying really hard to figure out his best XI.
Players like Werner and Havertz are playing only their second competitive game with the rest of the squad so naturally, they will take some time to settle down and mentally sync with the others.
