Time is running out, for me anyway, it’s almost 8pm on Monday night and these are the first words I’m typing.
I know what I want to say, it’s all in my head, I just need to articulate it via the medium of this blog post.
Articulating thoughts was a difficult task in the aftermath of Saturday’s 3-3 draw at home to Southampton.
The Saints are no mugs, but at 2-0 up, the game should be in the bag. But yet again, we seem to shoot ourselves in the foot and then proceeding to step into a bath of vinegar.
Frank Lampard was keen to stress that our defensive record isn’t that bad. Only Manchester City have allowed less shots than us, but the problem was the opposition didn’t need many shots to score goals.
But to think that replacing a goalkeeper who’s confidence is shot with a better shot stopper is going to miraculously solve our problems is not just naive but also extremely disconcerting.
Kai Havertz losing possession in our half really shouldn’t be a major issue, but it took Southampton just one pass into Danny Ings and our lead was halved right on the stroke of half time.
Andreas Christensen not awake, not close enough to his central defensive partner, who also isn’t communicating with him, giving Ings the space to round Kepa Arrizabalaga.
The second goal a more calamitous affair, a bad pass putting Kurt Zouma under pressure, a worse pass putting Kepa under pressure, then three terrible slide tackle attempts failing to clear the ball.
You get yourself ahead again, Timo Werner this time providing a goal for Havertz and you think that would knock the wind out of the sails of Southampton.
But with Chelsea, you always believe you can get another chance, and as we’ve established, it only takes one shot.
Teams with great defences are feared just like teams with great attacks. Going into games knowing you’re unlikely to get a sniff must be disheartening.
Facing us right now you know that despite our pace and quality in attack you’re always likely to get a chance and more than likely get a goal.
And this needs to be fixed. And quickly.
You cannot have success without having a strong defence.
It’s like the foundations of your house. There’s no point buying a crystal vase for five grand if you haven’t got built the house properly.
And we’ve got a couple of crystal vases in the team, and they’re unlikely to want to hang around with the threat of the floor giving way beneath them for too long.
The likes of Werner, Havertz, Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech are going to want to be at clubs competing for major trophies.
We’re not going to do that if we can’t solve this defence.
Roman Abramovich might be reluctant to pull the plug on Lampard, but these players won’t have any second thoughts about pulling the plug on Chelsea.
Werner has already voiced his frustrations at the leaky back line. Chelsea have scored 3 or more goals in a game three times this seasons but have only won one game.
To be clear I’m not suggesting this is happening any time soon, Lampard’s had one transfer window and only one and a bit seasons in the hot seat.
So you’ll expect defensive reinforcements to come over the next couple of windows.
Plus, all these signings have stated publicly that Lampard’s vision was a key factor in them choosing Stamford Bridge.
So you’d think that it’s going to be a season or two before we start seeing that vision come to fruition on the pitch.
Remember it took Juergen Klopp 5 years to get Liverpool to where they are today.
Nobodies really expecting the finished article 5 games into a season like no other, but the clock is always ticking and as the old saying goes, time waits for no man, not even Frank Lampard.
