Frank Lampard | Former Chelsea manager

[TheMagicFoolBus]

1. 46% correlation between the two metrics this season. Last year was close to 0, 39% in the season before. Just think about it - If I'm facing tougher quality chances, it's more likely that I'd concede more goals. And in xG terms 0.08 is a pretty big difference at a per shot level.

2. Set piece goals are in 90% cases down to defensive tactics. I remember bashing Mou and then Ole for this and the season for that is this can be solved. Either clearly define responsibilities of each player or more sessions on that.



Opposition finishing does not have an impact, from where the opposition took their shots, the scenario and the body part used are the determining factors here. It quantifies the quality of shot the GK faced and a higher number means that on an average the shots Kepa faced were from positions where its more likely to score from as compared to other teams.
Again, I do find his goalkeeping comical at times and do believe that replacing him will mean that you'll concede atleast 5-10 goals less, but you're in for a shock if you believe that you believe that Azpi, Rudiger, Alonso and Zouma can make you title contenders (and I like Azpi and Rudiger, but they aren't that good).

For your second point, Kepa has stopped 7.2% of the crosses faced. This is better percentage than Ederson, Dave, Lloris, Leno and Schmeichel. I'm sorry I couldn't find the punches data available anywhere. And also, I'm sorry if the GK is facing a 1v1 situation, it's hardly ever the GKs fault unless his distributtion was that poor

I'm sorry but this is just incorrect. You are confusing post-shot xG with post-shot xG per shot on target. The whole point of post-shot xG is to isolate the performance of a goalkeeper; the point of post-shot xG per shot on target is to focus on the finishing of the striker and thus gauge the extent to which a team has been unlucky in terms of opposition finishing - whether shots are going top bins more often than not is the basic question this stat seeks to answer. This suggests that yes, Chelsea have been unlucky in terms of opposition finishing this year, further compounding the fact that Kepa is literally twice as bad as the next worse goalkeeper (Pickford) in post-shot xG. Ultimately, Chelsea are 5th best in post-shot xG whist being 12th in GA. Thus, Kepa's underperformance is far and away the biggest factor holding back our defence.

Finally, with respect to the last point I think it's important to use punches specifically as that's the mark of a clearance under pressure - including all crosses adds the variables of opposition quality when crossing & extent to which a defense impacts crosses coming in.

One last point here (not necessarily directed at you specifically, @anant) - I'm certainly not arguing that Chelsea have world-beaters at CB. My point is that they are absolutely nowhere near as bad at their jobs as Kepa is at his - I'd rather see what they can do in front of a competent goalkeeper instead of binning them all for uncertain & expensive options that may or may not be upgrades (e.g. Upamecano, Dunk, Ake, etc), especially in this market where there is little cost-effective CB talent available.

 

[Maluco]

Most of those bolded players are youth players that got their debuts for Chelsea under Lampard. Mount and Abraham were playing for Derby in the Championship last season. At the start of the season, their squad depth looked tripe. If you looked at that, did you really think Abraham, Mount, Tomori, Gilmour, Cheek, James, and Odoi were part of a good top four squad? These players are only being considered better now, but not at the start of the season.

The opinion of depth is being given after the matter. I think people are looking at it in hindsight for those players. The same would be the case for Greenwood and Williams.

Sometimes you have to create your own depth. You could ask: could Solskjaer have given more chances to other youth players to create more depth in the squad?

This was the actual team that Lampard took over beneath. People are arguing that their squad was better than ours when Lampard took over, but I think it is nonsense. It is only his introduction of youth players that have created depth.

Kepa. Caballero
Azpilicueta
Rudigar. Zouma
Christiansen.
Alonso. Emerson
Jorginho.
Kovacic. Barkley
Kante Loftus-Cheek
Pulisic. Pedro
Willian CHO
Giroud.

I can’t get on board with that mate. CHO, James, Abraham and Mount were well known players coming off very good seasons (for the most part), one of which gets paid 120k a week to be part of the squad! Bayern Munich made him a top target! No one was saying they were stars (Mount has had a great season, for example). But there is no denying they had quality.

Yes, he did well to get them into rotation, but they were still part of the squad and still had good seasons behind them. Gilmour was the only real surprise and Lampard did well to get him involved, but even he looks special and was very highly rated within the club.

If you want to take out those sort of players for Chelsea, then you would have to take out Greenwood and Williams for United too, making their situation even worse.

I really don’t think it’s debatable who had the better squad. It’s Lampard by a landslide. Players like Mata, Lingard and Jones are worth absolutely nothing and couldn’t be trusted to give valuable contributions. Everyone in the second United team is a massive drop in quality, while I don’t think that’s even slightly true for Chelsea.

They have been able to mix it up quite a lot this season and bring on quality substitutes to put teams away. The only use of substitutes at United has been to give players a rest 20 minutes before the end. Rarely does someone who comes on actually contribute, and the drop in quality is clearly visible every time it happens.

 

[Adam-Utd]

Imagine if united spent 70m on a Kepa this bad? we'd never hear the end of it.

the press have hardly made any noise about how bad he's been and how much he cost, funny that. Compare it to the pressure DDG was under when he first joined!

So how will Chelsea expect to recoup their money? I can't see anybody paying more than 20m for Kepa right now.

 

[Dancfc]

Imagine if united spent 70m on a Kepa this bad? we'd never hear the end of it.

the press have hardly made any noise about how bad he's been and how much he cost, funny that. Compare it to the pressure DDG was under when he first joined!

Yeah, but on the flip side, not even Cech ever attracted the wankfest DDG did circa 15-18 so it kind off works both ways.

You're a bigger club so you get more attention good and bad, the same way we get more attention than Tottenham, nature of the beast.

 

[duffer]

So how will Chelsea expect to recoup their money? I can't see anybody paying more than 20m for Kepa right now.

We probably won't recoup the money.

He'll go on loan and we'll get a lot more than 20 million back though. Similar to the Morata sale.

 

[macheda14]

Yeah, but on the flip side, not even Cech ever attracted the wankfest DDG did circa 15-18 so it kind off works both ways.

You're a bigger club so you get more attention good and bad, the same way we get more attention than Tottenham, nature of the beast.

He didn’t because he was a very good player in a team of very good players. DDG was the best keeper in the league, if not the world for 2 seasons, but he stuck out even more because he was all that was saving United from relegation form for most of that time.

 

[Dancfc]

He didn’t because he was a very good player in a team of very good players. DDG was the best keeper in the league, if not the world for 2 seasons, but he stuck out even more because he was all that was saving United from relegation form for most of that time.

Not always, the early part of the last decade the rest of the team stagnated all around him and he single handedly won us the CL, and even then the attention he got was relitevely minimul compared to the scale of that achievement.

 

[macheda14]

Not always, the early part of the last decade the rest of the team stagnated all around him and he single handedly won us the CL, and even then the attention he got was relitevely minimul compared to the scale of that achievement.

Well that’s because there were better narratives to paint. The CL was captain fantastic and super frank leading the dressing room. Or it was Torres taking you to the final (even though Ramires scores the first more important goal). It wasn’t because you as a club weren’t receiving the same amount of attention as us. It’s just there were tastier narratives to pick. De Gea was lauded because it shows how far United has fallen to have their best player be their keeper.

 

[anant]

I'm sorry but this is just incorrect. You are confusing post-shot xG with post-shot xG per shot on target. The whole point of post-shot xG is to isolate the performance of a goalkeeper; the point of post-shot xG per shot on target is to focus on the finishing of the striker and thus gauge the extent to which a team has been unlucky in terms of opposition finishing - whether shots are going top bins more often than not is the basic question this stat seeks to answer. This suggests that yes, Chelsea have been unlucky in terms of opposition finishing this year, further compounding the fact that Kepa is literally twice as bad as the next worse goalkeeper (Pickford) in post-shot xG. Ultimately, Chelsea are 5th best in post-shot xG whist being 12th in GA. Thus, Kepa's underperformance is far and away the biggest factor holding back our defence.

Finally, with respect to the last point I think it's important to use punches specifically as that's the mark of a clearance under pressure - including all crosses adds the variables of opposition quality when crossing & extent to which a defense impacts crosses coming in.

One last point here (not necessarily directed at you specifically, @anant) - I'm certainly not arguing that Chelsea have world-beaters at CB. My point is that they are absolutely nowhere near as bad at their jobs as Kepa is at his - I'd rather see what they can do in front of a competent goalkeeper instead of binning them all for uncertain & expensive options that may or may not be upgrades (e.g. Upamecano, Dunk, Ake, etc), especially in this market where there is little cost-effective CB talent available.

Uhm, you're just looking at the opposite side of the same coin. If the opposition is having higher xG/shot on target, it just means that the opposition striker is getting better chances, which means your defence allowed them into such a position. Ofcourse if a team has positive xG differerential despite a higher xG/shot implies that the chances you're giving are good, but either your GK is fantastic or opposition is wasteful. Again, like I said, your GK is by far your biggest problem, but your defence is not as great as you think.

And for the punches part, like I said, I just have the crosses caught percentage, and don't have the punches number available. Could you link me to that dataset?

Btw, post shot xG on target cannot be used to measure finishing ability of the striker as you're looking at only shots on target in that case, and a shot if target gets excluded. The thing you're talking about is xG differential/shot not xG SoT differential/shot

Edit: From the glossary of that site:
PSxG/SoT -- Post-Shot Expected Goals per Shot on Target
Not including penalty kicks
PSxG is expected goals based on how likely the goalkeeper is to save the shot
Higher numbers indicate that shots on target faced are more difficult to stop and more likely to score
An underline indicates there is a match that is missing data, but will be updated when available

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

There were no nominations for the LMA award and there's also no nominations for the Premier League award for Lampard.

I’ll be honest I now have no idea what I saw. One of those moments where I’m sure I read it on a page but has no escaped me where. Could be load of crap.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

Uhm, you're just looking at the opposite side of the same coin. If the opposition is having higher xG/shot on target, it just means that the opposition striker is getting better chances, which means your defence allowed them into such a position. Ofcourse if a team has positive xG differerential despite a higher xG/shot implies that the chances you're giving are good, but either your GK is fantastic or opposition is wasteful. Again, like I said, your GK is by far your biggest problem, but your defence is not as great as you think.

And for the punches part, like I said, I just have the crosses caught percentage, and don't have the punches number available. Could you link me to that dataset?

Btw, post shot xG on target cannot be used to measure finishing ability of the striker as you're looking at only shots on target in that case, and a shot if target gets excluded. The thing you're talking about is xG differential/shot not xG SoT differential/shot

Edit: From the glossary of that site:
PSxG/SoT -- Post-Shot Expected Goals per Shot on Target
Not including penalty kicks
PSxG is expected goals based on how likely the goalkeeper is to save the shot
Higher numbers indicate that shots on target faced are more difficult to stop and more likely to score
An underline indicates there is a match that is missing data, but will be updated when available

Re: punches: https://www.premierleague.com/stats/top/players/punches

I'm sorry but I just still think you're getting caught up in the difference between xG and post-shot xG - the entire point of post-shot xG is to strip any influence of the defence from xG. A 0.02 xG chance can turn into a 0.5 post-shot xG chance once the ball leaves the foot - the whole purpose of the stat is to focus on how likely a goal is to occur based on its trajectory in isolation of a potential impact from defenders. Thus, something that goes in off the top corner has a high post-shot xG (especially so if it's limited to shots on target) even if it was taken under pressure from 3 defenders thus having a low xG.

Also again, I don't think our defense is top class - I just think that anyone who says that our defense is as bad as our goalkeeper is clueless and that I'd rather play next season with our CBs in front of a competent goalkeeper instead of buying players who aren't clear upgrades at CB.

 

[Ish]

Thank you for pointing this out. Both Lampard and Ole have done a good job for their first full season at their respective club. I don't get the digs that fans give to either of them.

It’s, for the most part, a bit of immaturity & pettiness I guess . Can’t say anything positive about the one without having to say something negative about the other.

 

[anant]

Re: punches: https://www.premierleague.com/stats/top/players/punches

I'm sorry but I just still think you're getting caught up in the difference between xG and post-shot xG - the entire point of post-shot xG is to strip any influence of the defence from xG. A 0.02 xG chance can turn into a 0.5 post-shot xG chance once the ball leaves the foot - the whole purpose of the stat is to focus on how likely a goal is to occur based on its trajectory in isolation of a potential impact from defenders. Thus, something that goes in off the top corner has a high post-shot xG (especially so if it's limited to shots on target) even if it was taken under pressure from 3 defenders thus having a low xG.

Also again, I don't think our defense is top class - I just think that anyone who says that our defense is as bad as our goalkeeper is clueless and that I'd rather play next season with our CBs in front of a competent goalkeeper instead of buying players who aren't clear upgrades at CB.

I get what you're saying, and while I agree to you on certain aspects of that metric. Like you said, PSxG takes into account the trajectory, speed and spin on the ball while getting the numbers. How a striker shoots is influenced by the pressure on the the player by the defenders around him, by how hurriedly he has to take the shot. If you look at the per shot numbers, a Mou team would more often than not have a lower number, as he plays deep and has good defenders. Ofcourse knowing that your GK is pretty shit gives forwards more confidence, but it's way too big a coincidence over 38 games that the PSxG/shot is pretty high for you, but teams like Pool, City, Spurs, Utd, Wolves, Burnley have among the lowest PSxG/shot

 

[ValenciasDrilledCrosses]

Overall I think Lampard has done a pretty great job with Chelsea this season, though certainly not without fault. I feel like he's mostly been absolved of any media criticism, but he's had some tough challenges to deal with just like Ole. I think saying Hazard wasn't replaced is silly. Obviously, Pulisic isn't of the same standard but he's a 60 million pound winger who's performed admirably (and I don't want to hear anything about when he was signed, he started playing for Chelsea this season, we're talking about football performance not accounting). The progression of James and Mount was enjoyable to watch under Frank, even Abraham who fell off mid-season but who I never thought would even look moderately presentable at a top club. Like all young players they had ebbs and flows. I'm very interested to see what he does with Gilmour next season, especially since I haven't heard much talk about signing a 6 and Jorginho could leave.

But there won't be anywhere to hide next season with the signings that are being brought in. No more excuse of a transfer ban. The expectations for him and Ole are going to be exponentially higher, even if neither fanbase expects to break the Pool/City stranglehold over the Top 2.

 

[Mount's Goatieson]

Well that’s because there were better narratives to paint. The CL was captain fantastic and super frank leading the dressing room. Or it was Torres taking you to the final (even though Ramires scores the first more important goal). It wasn’t because you as a club weren’t receiving the same amount of attention as us. It’s just there were tastier narratives to pick. De Gea was lauded because it shows how far United has fallen to have their best player be their keeper.

No one really cares about Kepa though. He was an average goalkeeper(statistically) who had a 71m release clause that Chelsea panicked and activated. Now what everybody sees is a young average goalkeeper bought for his potential but has regressed massively and lost his confidence and that of his team.

On the flip side, DDG has been hailed as the best goalkeeper in the world, not just two seasons ago but very recently by Ole himself. He has performed at a WC level and mentioned amongst the quaters of goalkeeping greats by United fans themselves. For someone of such high stature to be putting in very poor performances lately, it is not beyond the realms of reality that he'll face more criticism. The media don't care about an average guy not fulfilling his potential, they care more about sticking the knife in a fallen gaint.
I fail to see why anyone would be surprised by this.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

I get what you're saying, and while I agree to you on certain aspects of that metric. Like you said, PSxG takes into account the trajectory, speed and spin on the ball while getting the numbers. How a striker shoots is influenced by the pressure on the the player by the defenders around him, by how hurriedly he has to take the shot. If you look at the per shot numbers, a Mou team would more often than not have a lower number, as he plays deep and has good defenders. Ofcourse knowing that your GK is pretty shit gives forwards more confidence, but it's way too big a coincidence over 38 games that the PSxG/shot is pretty high for you, but teams like Pool, City, Spurs, Utd, Wolves, Burnley have among the lowest PSxG/shot

I think that's a fair assessment and there certainly are variables that go into any metric. It's certainly not an end all be all.

I'd hesitate to give too much weight to post-shot xG / SoT to be honest though - last year Chelsea had the second best post-shot xG / SoT and Kepa was still very poor in terms of shot stopping (obviously not historically bad, but more run of the mill bad: -4.2 post-shot xG). My interpretation generally is that we were lucky last year in terms of opposition finishing and were unlucky this year, which coincided with a horrendous decline from Kepa. For sure our CBs may have regressed, but I'd give the four of them a chance in front of a decent keeper instead before binning the lot - it really can't be understated the extent to which Kepa was appalling this season.

 

[macheda14]

No one really cares about Kepa though. He was an average goalkeeper(statistically) who had a 71m release clause that Chelsea panicked and activated. Now what everybody sees is a young average goalkeeper bought for his potential but has regressed massively and lost his confidence and that of his team.

On the flip side, DDG has been hailed as the best goalkeeper in the world, not just two seasons ago but very recently by Ole himself. He has performed at a WC level and mentioned amongst the quaters of goalkeeping greats by United fans themselves. For someone of such high stature to be putting in very poor performances lately, it is not beyond the realms of reality that he'll face more criticism. The media don't care about an average guy not fulfilling his potential, they care more about sticking the knife in a fallen gaint.
I fail to see why anyone would be surprised by this.

I wasn’t the one who originally spoke about Kepa, I was just responding to why Cech wasn’t as lauded as DDG (even though he should have been, he’s easily one of the best keepers in the history of the prem). However, I think the initial poster’s point still stands. The interesting thing isn’t that Kepa is so shit, it’s interesting that Chelsea haven’t received more criticism for spending 70 million on arguably one of the worst keepers in the entire league. Surely it’s the worst transfer in your history.

 

[WeePat]

I wasn’t the one who originally spoke about Kepa, I was just responding to why Cech wasn’t as lauded as DDG (even though he should have been, he’s easily one of the best keepers in the history of the prem). However, I think the initial poster’s point still stands. The interesting thing isn’t that Kepa is so shit, it’s interesting that Chelsea haven’t received more criticism for spending 70 million on arguably one of the worst keepers in the entire league. Surely it’s the worst transfer in your history.

Something that might help explain this that as genuinely terrible Kepa is, he doesn't actually make any stand out howlers. Forgive me for using De Gea as an example, but Mount's goal at Wembley for example, I don't recall Kepa ever letting a soft shot like that slip through. He's not an error prone keeper in the obvious sense (Karius etc). I'd wager most of football media probably aren't even aware of the extent to which he is bad, because to the naked eye he probably looks like a decent keeper, but the advanced stats obviously tell a different, far more damning story.

 

[macheda14]

Something that might help explain this that as genuinely terrible Kepa is, he doesn't actually make any stand out howlers. Forgive me for using De Gea as an example, but Mount's goal at Wembley for example, I don't recall Kepa ever letting a soft shot like that slip through. He's not an error prone keeper in the obvious sense (Karius etc). I'd wager most of football media probably aren't even aware of the extent to which he is bad, because to the naked eye he probably looks like a decent keeper, but the advanced stats obviously tell a different, far more damning story.

One of the most damning things was in a recent game when you could hear the whole defence berate him for not coming out. But if you watch videos of his mistakes he does have a fair few goals against him where his arms are pure jelly.

 

[WeePat]

One of the most damning things was in a recent game when you could hear the whole defence berate him for not coming out. But if you watch videos of his mistakes he does have a fair few goals against him where his arms are pure jelly.

Yep, and at least after that game, Carragher came out strongly and categorically stated Chelsea would not be progressing as a club if Kepa remained in goal next season.

Generally speaking, he doesn't make very many, if any, standout howlers though, so unless one watches him regularly, he probably doesn't immediately stand out as a terrible keeper.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

Yep, and at least after that game, Carragher came out strongly and categorically stated Chelsea would not be progressing as a club if Kepa remained in goal next season.

Generally speaking, he doesn't make very many, if any, standout howlers though, so unless one watches him regularly, he probably doesn't immediately stand out as a terrible keeper.

Big part of that is because he stands still on an inordinate number of goals! Stat I saw was that on 17 of the 54 goals we conceded (~31.5%) he couldn't be arsed to move. Makes the opposition finishes look far better whilst passing the buck - "it was a screamer, I just couldn't get near it" as the ball settles into the middle of the goal.

 

[WeePat]

Big part of that is because he stands still on an inordinate number of goals! Stat I saw was that on 17 of the 54 goals we conceded (~31.5%) he couldn't be arsed to move. Makes the opposition finishes look far better whilst passing the buck - "it was a screamer, I just couldn't get near it" as the ball settles into the middle of the goal.

Yep, one thing I omitted from my reply to the handball merchant above was that the most common criticism you hear of Kepa is " he could have maybe done better there" which is backed up by those stats. It's infuriating and I genuinely hope Caballero starts in the final and the Bayern game so Kepa will already have played his last game for the club.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

Yep, one thing I omitted from my reply to the handball merchant above was that the most common criticism you hear of Kepa is " he could have maybe done better there" which is backed up by those stats. It's infuriating and I genuinely hope Caballero starts in the final and the Bayern game so Kepa will already have played his last game for the club.

You and me both mate! Christ, what a disaster of a signing.

 

[Dancfc]

.

Big part of that is because he stands still on an inordinate number of goals! Stat I saw was that on 17 of the 54 goals we conceded (~31.5%) he couldn't be arsed to move. Makes the opposition finishes look far better whilst passing the buck - "it was a screamer, I just couldn't get near it" as the ball settles into the middle of the goal.

Was speaking to my friend earlier and he said the first time he had doubts about him was when Martial scored the second at Stamford Bridge back at the early stages of last season (the 2-2 game).

Didn't think anything of it at the time but looking back now I don't know if I'm being overly harsh but I watched it 20 times in about an hour earlier (and paused it mid shot) and I'm sure that's a simple catch if he dived down, at the very least it's a comfortable save.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

I have said it a number of times now but the quality of chances argument is moot. Post-shot xG looks at the probability of a shot from the position it was taken to the position it hit the target. The latter is ignored by normal xG which is why the post-shot stat is great for assesing goalkeepers. The PSxG actually makes Kepa look better as Chelsea have conceded quite a few screamers (Zaha, Keita) that would have a very low expected value making the fact that Kepa failed to save them even more evident.

With regards to setpieces, this video speaks for itself:


Also look how slow he is to react to van Dijk's shot. In this situation he both gave away a decent xG chance and on top of that would have underperformed saving it had it been on target.

No doubt, fixing the keeper will make improvement but the same can be said with fixing your defender.

I always find it difficult to understand why people are using weak evident to defend the argument about Chelsea defense. That video actually speak itself how poor the defenders are. Zouma evaded the ball when clearly he should be clearing it away. No of your defenders were aware where Van Dijk was, should have never let him be in a position to have a free space to shoot in the first place.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

No doubt, fixing the keeper will make improvement but the same can be said with fixing your defender.

I always find it difficult to understand why people are using weak evident to defend the argument about Chelsea defense. That video actually speak itself how poor the defenders are. Zouma evaded the ball when clearly he should be clearing it away. No of your defenders were aware where Van Dijk was, should have never let him be in a position to have a free space to shoot in the first place.

I'm sorry but this is a ridiculous argument. If you can't rely on your keeper to catch a free kick that bounces in the area two yards off your line then why even bother having a keeper? Zouma very obviously avoids the ball because the rest of the defense is correctly calling for Kepa to take one step out and take the ball. Blaming this on Zouma or anyone else in our defense is utterly insane.

 

[Bilbo]

Kepa is obviously a poor goalkeeper at this level, but I think its dangerous for Chelsea fans to think that he is the only issue with that defence. Whenever I've watched them this season, and thats a fair bit, they've tended to give up a lot of opportunities and generally just look brittle.

I'm sure they'll spend some money to try to fix that, but commanding centre backs are in short supply right now. Wouldn't surprise me at all if Lampard is mindful of this and has a 'you score 2, we'll score 3' approach in his thinking for next season. I hope so. It'll be a marvellous watch

 

[Relevated]

Kepa is obviously a poor goalkeeper at this level, but I think its dangerous for Chelsea fans to think that he is the only issue with that defence. Whenever I've watched them this season, and thats a fair bit, they've tended to give up a lot of opportunities and generally just look brittle.

I'm sure they'll spend some money to try to fix that, but commanding centre backs are in short supply right now. Wouldn't surprise me at all if Lampard is mindful of this and has a 'you score 2, we'll score 3' approach in his thinking for next season. I hope so. It'll be a marvellous watch

How about the opposition when they go 'we will score 2 and park the entire bus'? Its not worth it. Anything is better than nothing.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

I'm sorry but this is a ridiculous argument. If you can't rely on your keeper to catch a free kick that bounces in the area two yards off your line then why even bother having a keeper? Zouma very obviously avoids the ball because the rest of the defense is correctly calling for Kepa to take one step out and take the ball. Blaming this on Zouma or anyone else in our defense is utterly insane.

That’s stupid. During set pieces or long throw, you always need to go for it and clear the ball when there is opportunity don’t risk it by claiming or shouting who should do it. If this is how Lampard coaches his defense, absolutely shocking.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

Kepa is obviously a poor goalkeeper at this level, but I think its dangerous for Chelsea fans to think that he is the only issue with that defence. Whenever I've watched them this season, and thats a fair bit, they've tended to give up a lot of opportunities and generally just look brittle.

I'm sure they'll spend some money to try to fix that, but commanding centre backs are in short supply right now. Wouldn't surprise me at all if Lampard is mindful of this and has a 'you score 2, we'll score 3' approach in his thinking for next season. I hope so. It'll be a marvellous watch

You've hit the nail on the head - I don't think any Chelsea fans are claiming our defence is top class. My assertion is that Kepa is so unprecedentedly bad that it'd be harsh (and prohibitively expensive) to axe our CBs - point being that the market for CBs is extremely poor at the moment and we've conceded fewer xG than Liverpool.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

That’s stupid. During set pieces or long throw, you always need to go for it and clear the ball when there is opportunity don’t risk it by claiming or shouting who should do it. If this is how Lampard coaches his defense, absolutely shocking.

Wait, you think it's shocking that a manager would prepare his team so that a goalkeeper would come out to claim a cross 2 yards off his line completely uncontested?

Zouma is obviously under minimal pressure and he hears half the team screaming "KEPAAAA" so why on earth would he risk conceding another corner or an OG when the situation is ostensibly completely under control?

This is perhaps the most ludicrous post I've ever seen on this forum. I never in a million years thought I'd see anyone defending Kepa in this scenario. Christ on a cracker.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

Wait, you think it's shocking that a manager would prepare his team so that a goalkeeper would come out to claim a cross 2 yards off his line completely uncontested?

Zouma is obviously under minimal pressure and he hears half the team screaming "KEPAAAA" so why on earth would he risk conceding another corner or an OG when the situation is ostensibly completely under control?

This is perhaps the most ludicrous post I've ever seen on this forum. I never in a million years thought I'd see anyone defending Kepa in this scenario. Christ on a cracker.

Yes you don’t shout or claiming who should take it in that situation.

Is the player robot? Read the situation not just following the instruction blindly. That was the situation where Zouma was in the best position to clear it and others shouldn’t be ball watching but need to be aware where Van Dijk was. Clearly bunch of brainless defenders who couldn’t read the game or situation well.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

Yes you don’t shout or claiming who should take it in that situation.

Is the player robot? Read the situation not just following the instruction blindly. That was the situation where Zouma was in the best position to clear it and others shouldn’t be ball watching but need to be aware where Van Dijk was.

Have you ever played the sport? If the entire defense is shouting "KEEP KEEP KEEP" or "KEPA KEPA KEPA" then you duck your head. Blaming Zouma for this is the height of nonsense and is yet again another example of our CBs being blamed for our historically shit goalkeeper.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

Have you ever played the sport? If the entire defense is shouting "KEEP KEEP KEEP" or "KEPA KEPA KEPA" then you duck your head. Blaming Zouma for this is the height of nonsense and is yet again another example of our CBs being blamed for our historically shit goalkeeper.

Yes and my coach always told me don’t risk it claiming who’s clearing it during set pieces or long throw in that type of situation, clear the ball. You are just creating confusion in that type of situation. You need to know when the situation to do it. For example a keeper sometime told you to leave it when crossings go to far post but the full back on that far post doesn’t want to take a risk and clear it away for corner. There is situation where you just can’t take a risk and that clip was also one of them.

Clearly I wasn’t just blaming on Zouma alone. Bunch of brainless ‘’defenders’’ who couldn’t read the game or situation well.

 

[Trophy Room]

Chelsea will do really well next season. Lampard appears to making all the right moves.

 

[NotoriousISSY]

If Chelsea sign Havertz (surely at least £75m), Chilwell (50-60m surely?), a keeper and a CB, on top of Ziyech and Werner, how long is Lampard given to win the title?

This is a 2004 style siege on the league and Europe to some extent, but Mourinho was seemingly much better placed to achieve, given that United had already fallen from grace (although it was short) and Arsenal's best talents were aging.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

Yes and my coach always told me don’t risk it claiming who’s clearing it during set pieces or long throw in that type of situation, clear the ball. You are just creating confusion in that type of situation. You need to know when the situation to do it. For example a keeper sometime told you to leave it when crossings go to far post but the full back on that far post doesn’t want to take a risk and clear it away for corner. There is situation where you just can’t take a risk and that clip was also one of them.

Clearly I wasn’t just blaming on Zouma alone. Bunch of brainless ‘’defenders’’ who couldn’t read the game or situation well.

How on earth is Zouma creating confusion? Literally everyone in the defense was screaming "KEPA" - Zouma only ducked away because he wanted to avoid interfering with the goalkeeper, as any CB should do.

I am genuinely dumbstruck that you're defending Kepa and blaming the defenders here. The point is that the defenders did read the situation well and called for the goalkeeper to make an uncontested catch, yet he stayed rooted to his line. How on earth can this be interpreted to be the defenders' fault?

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

How on earth is Zouma creating confusion? Literally everyone in the defense was screaming "KEPA" - Zouma only ducked away because he wanted to avoid interfering with the goalkeeper, as any CB should do.

I am genuinely dumbstruck that you're defending Kepa and blaming the defenders here. The point is that the defenders did read the situation well and called for the goalkeeper to make an uncontested catch, yet he stayed rooted to his line. How on earth can this be interpreted to be the defenders' fault?

I gave you good example that defenders just shouldn’t take risk on certain situation and that clip was one of them. I‘m not defending Kepa. I prove my point that both your defenders and your Kepa are equally brainless and that clip was one of the example.

 

[Bilbo]

You've hit the nail on the head - I don't think any Chelsea fans are claiming our defence is top class. My assertion is that Kepa is so unprecedentedly bad that it'd be harsh (and prohibitively expensive) to axe our CBs - point being that the market for CBs is extremely poor at the moment and we've conceded fewer xG than Liverpool.

There's so much talk of xG and the likes in this thread and for me the point is that its dangerous and misleading to be seeking too much comfort from that.

You didn't lose 12 and concede 54 simply because Kepa was throwing them in. There's been a real imbalance in the team IMO, a little naivety about game management, and signing a new keeper won't change that. It might help to paper over the cracks, but no more than that.

I think Lampards had a decent season but i would have.....maybe not serious concerns, but there is definitely a question mark about his ability to find that balance, because you can sign all the attacking talent you want but when they have an off day (and they will) you'll lose the game.

Does it mean that Chelsea won't be dangerous next season? No. I reckon it will stop Chelsea from kicking on to challenge the elite though unless Lampard can address this, and maybe he will and this post will look stupid in a years time.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

I gave you good example that defenders just shouldn’t take risk on certain situation and that clip was one of them. I‘m not defending Kepa. I prove my point that both your defenders and your Kepa are equally brainless and that clip was one of the example.

Saying this confirms that you have no idea what you're talking about.

Again, you're arguing that Zouma should ignore the calls of his teammates and head the ball regardless when it's literally 2 yards off the line. Zouma listening to the calls and ducking out of the way is a point in his favour; arguing otherwise is just idiotic given the potential for the ball to go anywhere. Unless you're positing that Zouma is guaranteed to better aim a header than Kepa is a punch, which would be a whole separate kettle of fish.