Frank Lampard has claimed that the Chelsea team he has inherited are not fit enough - and believes he does not have the time to fix the issue.
Lampard was welcomed back for a second spell at Stamford Bridge as the club's new caretaker manager earlier this month after the Blues hierarchy decided to axe Graham Potter after just six months at the helm. But the Chelsea legend's homecoming has been anything but a fairytale, with Saturday's disappointing 2-1 defeat against Brighton meaning that Lampard has now lost all three of his games since returning to the dugout.
And with a daunting trip to Real Madrid on the horizon in the Champions League, things are unlikely to get any easier for Lampard and the beleaguered Blues, who he believes are not on the same level physically as some of their domestic rivals.
Speaking after Saturday's defeat against Brighton, Lampard said: “At the minute, it has been mostly conversations and meetings than training pitch stuff. Training pitch stuff was all pretty walkthrough and low level because of the [tiredness] in the legs.
“It is more about speaking to the players individually. When we do get the chance to work, I think the team needs some physical work. I think that’s important for us because at this level you have to be right on the limit and we are not on the limit right now.
“I think that can be a capacity thing with the players for whatever reason. It doesn’t matter how we got there but it needs to be addressed now.”
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Chelsea are languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League and their bloated squad has been heavily scrutinised for failing to live up to expectations; particularly as new club co-owner Todd Boehly splashed over £300million on new signings in the January transfer window in a bid to get the Blues firing.
The likes of Mykhaylo Mudryk and Enzo Fernandez have failed to justify their huge price tags so far, but Lampard has defended the squad that underachieved so drastically under Potter and insisted that they have the "hunger" to turn things around.
He continued: “I think maybe when some players are lacking confidence then it can be seen as a hunger thing. When you are a yard short, you are just a yard short. Or when you are receiving the ball and not confident, you take your first touch backwards.
“That can sometimes feel like a hunger or lack of passion thing but I don’t feel that. I feel like the players are hungry to be successful as Chelsea players.”
