Lampard laments slumping Chelsea's lack of fight

Chelsea interim manager Frank Lampard said he has to turn around the club's slump urgently before Tuesday's visit of Real Madrid in their Champions League quarterfinal following the Blues' latest limp defeat.

Lampard, speaking after a 2-1 home Premier League loss to Brighton & Hove Albion, said Chelsea — the 2021 European champion who is now stuck in 11th place in the Premier League — was displaying a worrying lack of desire and competitiveness.

"At the minute, we are falling short on that and we need to turn it around quickly," said the former Chelsea midfielder, who was rushed in for a second spell in charge of the Blues after Graham Potter's dismissal earlier this month.

"We haven't got training time... So the response has to be what you see on the pitch, especially with Tuesday coming."

Lampard said the defeat to Brighton was the most disappointing performance of the three games since his return to Stamford Bridge to see out what looks like being a barren first full season under Chelsea's new American owners, despite their huge outlay on new players.

Asked if he wanted to urge Chelsea fans to energize the team on Tuesday against Madrid — with the Spanish giant 2-0 up from the first leg — Lampard said the focus had to be on the players, not the support from the crowd.

"I know they will do that but we have to play with that energy and fight, that's like the bare minimum," he said.

"That's up to us, in terms of the game on Tuesday."

Lampard has taken charge of three games since being hired as interim manager following the firing of Potter, and he's lost all of them. First there was a 1-0 loss at Wolverhampton Wanderers before a 2-0 defeat at Madrid on Wednesday.

This was Lampard's first game at Stamford Bridge and Chelsea took the lead against the run of play, with Conor Gallagher's shot from the edge of the area deflecting off Brighton defender Lewis Dunk and wrong-footing recalled goalkeeper Robert Sanchez in the 13th minute.

Brighton coach Roberto De Zerbi, who took over the Seagulls when Potter departed the south coast for his short and fruitless stint at Chelsea and is now on course to guide the team into Europe next season for the first time, praised the way his players dominated the Blues.

But he also said he was unhappy at the way Brighton allowed Chelsea a couple of late chances to equalize.

"When we scored the second goal we thought only to finish the game, to spend time," he said. "And I spoke after the game to my players about this. If we want to become bigger we have to improve in this aspect."

The Italian said he believed his side could book a place in the FA Cup final by beating Manchester United in this weekend's semifinal of the knockout competition.

"It will be another difficult game, it's another big team. Man United I think are one of the best teams in the Premier League but I think we are able to win and I think we are able to fight," he said.

Reuters