Chelsea caretaker manager Frank Lampard said self-doubt is a big problem in his team at the moment as he insisted that there is no “magic wand” in football after Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat to Brentford.
The Blues started the game with a 3-4-2-1 formation with Raheem Sterling being the only attacker in the starting eleven.
This is similar to the line-up Lampard deployed against Real Madrid in the second leg, and, unsurprisingly, they faced similar problems too, especially in the final third.
Brentford boss Thomas Frank said he was surprised by Lampard’s team selection.
Worryingly, Lampard pointed out that even when things were going well on the pitch after the formation change at half-time, the poor goalscoring form affected the players mentally.
“With 4-3-3, we looked more dynamic and more of a threat in the first 15-20 minutes of the second half,” the caretaker manager told BT Sport in his post-match interview.
“But still there is that feeling around at the minute that the goal might not come and [the opponents] might get something.
“We have to work against that.
“We’d love a magic wand or a magic moment, but it doesn’t come in football, so we’ll have to fight for the moment.”
This is a dire situation for Chelsea because they are not even mathematically safe from relegation yet despite the 10-point gap to 18th-placed Leicester City.
Bear in mind that this Chelsea side has scored just one goal — a lucky, deflected one — in their last seven games in all competitions.
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