Frank Lampard says Chelsea struggled to deal with the movement and positioning of Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil and was disappointed with how his side dealt with playing against 10 men.
The west Londoners looked in complete control of Tuesday night’s 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge when David Luiz was sent off for a cynical foul, with the double jeopardy rule not applying as Jorginho converted the resulting penalty.
But rather than laying siege to Arsenal’s goal, it was actually the visitors who began to exert control, with Mikel Arteta even changing his mind over subbing on a centre-back due to how well the team were playing.
Lampard was unhappy with how Chelsea approached the match once Arsenal had been reduced to 10 men, particularly how they dealt with Ozil, and welcomed the chance to make tweaks at half-time.
Asked why his side struggled to control the game despite their man advantage, Lampard explained: ‘Well I think probably for 15 minutes in the first half it did because I think we were still probably in the mindset of them with 11.
‘And Ozil pulling out to the side and giving you some problems and I think we ended up being in a kind of middle ground. So I was pleased for half-time so I could address that.’
In another interview with BT Sport, he added: ‘I think we were used to having a little bit of an issue where Ozil comes out to the side and we sort of stayed in the mode of dealing with them with 11, when really with 10 we could have been more aggressive.’
Lampard continued: ‘Then I thought the second half was what it was, we had loads of the ball, we were in their half most of the time, they had a few breakaways – that can happen.
‘Sometimes being tentative when they’ve got 10 is wrong, you have to go in and still be really positive to make sure they don’t get out. And they had a few moments and they fought for it and that’s what they should do in a London derby.
‘So the initiative is on us to be really ruthless about doing the right things, to move the ball quick enough, to take your chances when they came along. I thought we moved it quick enough at times but we didn’t take our chances when we got them.’
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