Frank Lampard believes Chelsea need to become “killers” in attack in order to build on an overdue victory and begin bridging the sizeable gap to the Premier League’s leading clubs.
The mid-table Blues on Saturday ended a nine-match winless run, including six successive defeats since Lampard was reappointed, by beating Bournemouth 3-1.
Conor Gallagher headed the visitors in front at Vitality Stadium but, after Matias Vina’s leveller, they were largely toothless going forward until late finishes from Benoit Badiashile and Joao Felix halted the prolonged slump.
While a top-half finish is the extent of Chelsea’s potential this season, they will hope to be challenging for Champions League qualification at the very least next term.
Interim manager Lampard, who is due to leave Stamford Bridge in the summer, feels the Blues must develop a ruthless streak in order to do that and suggested the club may need further recruits, despite having already spent more than £600million on transfers since Todd Boehly’s takeover.
“We controlled a lot of the game,” he said of the south-coast success.
“Without the killer instinct, we were running inside their box a lot in the first half, we had a lot of overloads on the side of the pitch.
“And as this team develops or as we add to the squad I think you have to be more killers at the top end of the pitch.
“If you look at the top half of the table, that’s what you will see all across it. At the moment, we haven’t got that. But you saw nice individual performances in a positive direction.”
Two-time European champions Chelsea sit in 11th position, a staggering 40 points behind leaders Manchester City and well adrift of the top four.
Travelling supporters celebrated the long-awaited triumph with self-deprecating cries of ‘we are staying up’, having earlier directed derogatory chants at American businessman Boehly.
Lampard backed the club’s owners to eventually be successful following a dismal first campaign at the helm.
“The fans have been used to a lot of success, they want a lot of success,” said the former Blues midfielder.
“What I do know is the fans will stick with this club. I do know there are a lot of intentions to take this club where we want to get it to again.
“There’s not one club out there of our size that hasn’t had transitional periods.
“People would give a left arm to have the success we’ve had for 20 years, so if it’s our year where we have to go again and work a bit and try and come back stronger next year, everyone stick together, then I’m sure we will.”
The west London club move on to meetings with relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest, reigning champions City, and Champions League hopefuls Manchester United and Newcastle.
Lampard is concerned left-back Ben Chilwell will be unavailable for the run-in after he limped off against the Cherries.
“It’s a hamstring injury,” he said.
“We don’t know if it’s serious but with a hamstring injury at this stage of the season it’s clearly a worry for the last few games.”
Bournemouth began the weekend level on 39 points with Chelsea and had the better chances for a winner before suffering late disappointment, with Badiashile’s pivotal strike coming from Hakim Ziyech’s free-kick into the penalty area.
The Cherries have the worst record in the division for conceding goals from set-pieces, an issue head coach Gary O’Neil is eager to address.
“We’ve struggled with defending balls into the box,” he said. “We’re obviously aware of it and it’s something we need to improve.
“I’m hopeful we can put some work in now week to week but then we can put things in place for next season to make us much stronger in that area.”
Postecoglou: Spurs have a confidence problem to overcome
Ange Postecoglou says that Tottenham need to "overcome" their low confidence after suffering a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
Spurs slipped to their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat, being left to bemoan their slow start as they found themselves 4-0 down by the hour mark thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott.
Richarlison came off the bench to salvage some pride for Spurs, scoring one before setting up Son Heung-min for a goal on his 300th Premier League appearance.
Spurs had the opportunity to cut the gap to the top four after Aston Villa’s defeat to Brighton, but they remain seven points off a Champions League spot.
Postecoglou’s side still have a game in hand over the Villans, though he was sure that Spurs would be able to put their recent poor run behind them.
Asked if Spurs had a confidence problem, Postecoglou told Sky Sports: "Maybe in the front third there is.
"It probably is a bit of a lack of confidence, but again, that's something the guys have to work through.
"You have to find a way to overcome that because, ultimately, if you don't put pressure on the opposition in the front third after you've worked your way up there, they're going to get comfortable with their position."
Spurs have won just one of their last nine Premier League away games, failing to win any of the last five.
Despite that run extending at Anfield, Postecoglou highlighted what he thought was an improvement on their recent performances.
He continued: "Obviously a hugely disappointing outcome for us but at least we were more like ourselves today in terms of our football.
"Our last two away games at Newcastle and Chelsea, apart from the results which weren't great either, we just didn't try and play our football.
"I thought today, even in the first half, some of our football, our pressing was back to where it should be."
Chelsea 8-0 Bristol City: Blues rout hands Hayes perfect home send off
Guro Reiten starred as Chelsea thrashed already-relegated Bristol City 8-0 to keep their title hopes alive in the Women's Super League on Sunday.
The Norwegian scored four goals, netting the opener from the penalty spot to get Emma Hayes' last home game in charge off to the best start.
She scored the other three in the second half in just over 20 minutes, while teeing up Agnes Beever-Jones for the seventh goal with just two minutes left.
Beever-Jones got two, with Sjoeke Nusken and Niamh Charles also adding to the scoreline to eradicate the goal-difference advantage that Manchester City, who lost to Arsenal earlier on Sunday, had over them.
Chelsea move to within three points of the Citizens, with a game in hand over them, remaining in the fight to lift their fifth-consecutive league title.
Data Debrief:
Chelsea have scored eight goals in a game for the first time since December 2022 against Leicester City, a match they also won 8-0.
The Blues have scored in their last six games in the WSL, though it does not come close to their longest run of games with a goal in the competition - a run of 20 from April 2023 to February 2024.
Klopp hails 'special' Anfield following Tottenham win
Jurgen Klopp says Anfield "was a special place" after Liverpool got back to winning ways at home against Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday.
The Reds cruised into a 4-0 lead against Spurs by the 59th minute as Mohamed Salah and Harvey Elliott played starring roles, with Andrew Robertson and Cody Gakpo also getting on the scoresheet.
They were set up for a slightly nervous finish by Spurs, with substitute Richarlison coming on to score and assist late on to half the deficit to 4-2 by the final whistle.
Victory kept Liverpool’s very slim title hopes alive after a recent dip in form that saw them take just one win from five before this, and Klopp was pleased with the Reds’ reaction in his penultimate game at Anfield.
"We are outstanding until we are not," the German told Sky Sports. "It was a really good game. Tottenham can put pressure on Aston Villa again for the Champions League. In high-performance things, you need a spark.
"Anfield was a special place today. We were 4-0 up, I made the changes, and we lost organisation. Tottenham showed how good they could be. I was happy with the performance.
"We were good in pretty much all areas offensively. The passes were good. So many things were good. We stayed calm. As long as they don't break the lines, then it's fine. Let them pass. I liked our game a lot. The goals were outstanding.
"You do it when you do it and if you miss it, then you miss it. If we win all three, then we can achieve the fifth-highest points tally of Liverpool.
"I would be lying if I said I was at my highest emotion, but I have another game. In two weeks’ time is another day. I have said it before, I love absolutely everything about this club."
Salah was restored to the starting line-up against Spurs after making headlines last weekend for a spat with Klopp on the sideline before he was brought on as a substitute.
He scored the opening goal for Liverpool and became the first player in Premier League history to score 10+ goals and provide 10+ assists in three consecutive seasons. He is also only the second player to tally 10+ in both in five separate seasons in the competition overall, after Wayne Rooney.
After assuring that the rift between him and Salah was resolved in the build-up to this game, Klopp was quick to praise his star man.
He added: "Mo was outstanding, he played a really good game. His side with Harvey [Elliott] was good. I was pleased for him.
"None of the boys want to play not great, why would they? Mo showed what he is capable of."
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