Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has revealed how his second-half tactical change helped the Blues to get over the line against West Ham last night, speaking to the club’s official website.
Following back-to back defeats, the first 20 minutes of the game at Stamford Bridge would have gone exactly to plan for Lampard.
The Blues grabbed an early lead thanks to Thiago Silva’s bullet header on ten minutes but Chelsea took their foot off the gas ten minutes later, allowing West Ham to gain a foothold.
Speaking to West Ham’s official website, forward Jarrod Bowen explained how the Hammers got into the game.
He said: “We limited them to playing out from the back. They were just kicking it longer, which was a great credit to us, the way we pressed without the ball.
“I feel at 1-0 we were massively in the game and just needed a goal.”
That was when Lampard earned his corn, bringing Mateo Kovacic on for Jorginho in the 66th minute. Twelve minutes later, Tammy Abraham scored twice to seal a valuable three points.
Lampard said: “We started really well but in the second half for periods we didn’t have as much of the ball.
“Getting Mateo Kovacic on helped us because he got us on the ball to help us through that final period.”
Jorginho struggled with West Ham intensity
Kovacic coming on allowed N’Golo Kante to return to the base of the midfield three.
Jorginho hasn’t played regularly lately and struggled to cope with West Ham pressure.
At times he dropped so deep he was almost an auxiliary centre-back.
Jorginho lost the ball 12 times before being taken off. Kante, in comparison, lost the ball six times in 90 minutes.
Those aren’t the stats Lampard would want to see from someone supposed to be the focal point of Chelsea’s midfield, particularly during transition.