Chelsea coach Frank Lampard has admitted that there were “clear mistakes” from his players that led to them being down to three goals in the first of their Premier League match against West Brom on Saturday.
“There were clear mistakes that led to their goals, which in a game like this in the Premier League always makes life difficult,” said Lampard as quoted on the official website of Chelsea.
‘It’s not a tactical moment, it’s a turnover in possession which we spoke about before in the sense that West Brom would approach the game waiting for transitions but when moments like that happen on the pitch, you can get punished and we were with a three-goal mountain to climb,” he added.
Chelsea pulled off a stunning comeback to snatch a point after defensive errors had led to three goals for the newly-promoted West Brom at the Hawthorns.
“The lads did show great character to overcome that but at the same time it’s not a position when you come somewhere where the team are organised and want to make it difficult for you and we gave them three goals so I’m left with mixed emotions.
“I was happy to see my team fight to the last minute to get the goals back but I have to go back to beginning and not be happy with the fact that we conceded three goals from three shots on target,” Lampard explained.
Chelsea, who have spent 220 million pounds this summer to bolster their attack, failed to impose any threats whatsoever to West Brom, despite playing with their superstar signings Timo Werner and Kai Havertz.
After the break, however, it was Chelsea’s youth academy boys, who turned the tide of the match. After Callum Hudson-Odoi brought the intent back into Chelsea’s attack with his introduction, Mason Mount initiated the comeback with a brilliant long-ranger that didn’t allow the West Brom keeper to move.
Hudson-Odoi and Tammy Abraham were also on the scoresheet to ensure that The Blues did not suffer an embarrassing fate.
“Callum gave us everything that I wanted. He gets his goal from giving us something different and that’s what he needs to do because that’s the impact he can have for us.
“It has to be consistent but he’s given himself a great platform to continue in that vein because he’ll be very important for us if he does,” the Chelsea coach said.