Chelsea's interim manager Frank Lampard crticised his team for being "too nice" against Arsenal on Tuesday night as a 3-1 defeat at the Emirates extended their losing run to six matches in all competitions.
A Martin Odegaard double and a Gabriel Jesus goal handed Arsenal a comfortable and deserved 3-0 lead after just 34 minutes, and while Noni Madueke scored in the second half for the Blues, the damage had already been done.
The result continued Chelsea's miserable season, which sees the Blues languish in 12th place in the Premier League table, while Lampard has lost all six of his matches in charge since returning to Stamford Bridge to replace previous manager Graham Potter until the end of the campaign.
"The first-half performance was not good enough, in every way," Lampard said. "We were too nice to play against, nice off the ball, passive, things we talked about before the game defensively we did not do.
"We did not restrict the space between lines, we did not get the line up as much as we needed to, we did not affect pressure on the ball, we did not make contact with Arsenal players.
"On the ball the same, passing short, playing to position, not playing longer, not making forward runs. Things that we spoke about and if you play like that, you get what you deserve."
Chelsea did improve after half time but any hopes of a comeback always felt remote from a team who had only scored one goal in their previous seven games.
"Maybe there were some things I said at half time, which to be fair I had said before the game," Lampard said. "Tactical no, playing a back-four or a back-five, these things do not matter if you don’t get the basics right.
Arsenal v Chelsea player ratings
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ARSENAL PLAYER RATINGS: Aaron Ramsdale - 6. Called into action by Chilwell in the 24th minute and he was equal to his effort. Made a good save to deny Havertz at the death. Getty -
Ben White - 6. Had very little to do defensively in the first half, which enabled him to be a prominent presence in attack. Struggled against the pace and trickery of Mudryk late in the game. Reuters -
Jakub Kiwior - 7. Stopped a Mudryk run with an impressive interception in the 73rd minute. Enjoyed an impressive outing in his first Premier League start for the Gunners. Getty -
Gabriel Magalhaes - 7. Stepped out of the defence to make several interceptions high up the pitch in the first half. Denied a goal by a clearance from Silva after the break. EPA -
Oleksandr Zinchenko - 5. Tucked in well into midfield to help the Gunners win the midfield battle in the first half. Caught out far too easily by a pass from Kovacic in the build-up to Madueke’s goal. Reuters -
Jorginho - 7. Bossed the midfield against his former club in the first half as the Gunners ran riot. Continued in the same vein in the second half as the home side controlled proceedings. Reuters -
Granit Xhaka - 9. Showed excellent vision with a pass across the Chelsea penalty area to assist Odegaard’s opener. Repeated the trick for Arsenal’s second goal. Had a hand in the third as his blocked effort fell into the path of Gabriel Jesus to sweep home. Getty -
Martin Odegaard - 9. Put the Gunners ahead with an effort that went in off the crossbar in the 18th minute. Grabbed his second of the night from almost the same position with an effort into the bottom corner. Getty -
Bukayo Saka - 7. Put Kepa to work with a header off Trossard’s cross in the 15th minute. Did well to turn and run at the Chelsea defence in the 55th minute but hit his effort went wide. Getty -
Leandro Trossard - 6. Played a lovely disguised pass into the path of Jesus in the 29th minute. Dropped back to help link up play effectively. AP -
Gabriel Jesus - 8. Got on the scoresheet with a close-range effort in the 34th minute. Blazed another effort high when Silva’s defensive header found him at the back-post in the second half. Getty -
SUBS: Gabriel Martinelli (Trossard 59') - 5. Never stopped running but failed to provide his usual spark from the wing after coming on. AFP -
Kieran Tierney (Zinchenko 73') - N/A. Added solidity to the Gunners left side of defence. Put his body on the line to stop Havertz in the 93rd minute. Getty -
Reiss Nelson (Saka 73') - N/A. Saw his half-hearted shouts for a penalty waved away in the 81st minute. AP -
Rob Holding (Gabriel 85') - N/A. The defender made little impact, but the Gunners weren’t troubled when he came on. AP -
Thomas Partey (Jorginho 86') - N/A. Brought fresh legs to the Arsenal midfield for the final few minutes. Reuters -
CHELSEA PLAYER RATINGS: Kepa Arrizabalaga - 6. Made a good early save to bail out Azpilicueta after his error. Put out a strong left hand to deny Odegaard a hat-trick in the 84th minute, but could little about either goal. AP -
Ben Chilwell - 5. Denied by a good save from Ramsdale in the 24th minute. His crosses into the penalty area weren't up to his usual standard. Getty -
Cesar Azpilicueta - 5. Almost cost his side an early goal after he failed to get enough contact on a header back to Kepa in the fourth minute. Began the sequence of schoolboy defending that led to the Gunners’ third goal by lazily sticking out his leg in an attempt to stop Gabriel. AFP -
Thiago Silva - 6. Got involved in Chelsea’s comical defending for the third by deflecting the ball into the path of Jesus to score the Gunners third. Made a goalline clearance to deny Gabriel in the 50th minute. Reuters -
Wesley Fofana - 6. Intercepted what would have been a dangerous cross into the penalty area by Xhaka in the 10th minute. Improved alongside Silva in the second half as the Blues stopped the Gunners from increasing the lead. Getty -
Enzo Fernandez - 5. Could have done better to block Xhaka’s line of passing for the Gunners’ second goal. Failed to provide any sort of impact in the second half. Reuters -
N’Golo Kante - 6. Did well to stop Xhaka from testing Kepa after he was played into space by Odegaard in the ninth minute. Failed to pick out a Blue shirt when Chelsea had a four-on-two advantage counterattack on the hour. Getty -
Mateo Kovacic - 6. Drawn into the penalty area which left Odegaard with time and space to pick out the top corner for the Gunners’ opener. Supplied the assist for Madueke’s goal with a beautifully lofted pass over the Gunners’ defence. EPA -
Noni Madueke - 7. The most lively of the Chelsea attackers in the first half but he got crowded out the few times he got past Zinchenko. Scored what turned out to be a consolation goal with a left-footed finish past Ramsdale in the 65th minute. AP -
Raheem Sterling - 4. Displayed good feet to turn Ben White but chose the wrong option of trying to pick out Aubameyang when he should have continued with his run in the first half. Caught ball-watching as Odegaard snuck from behind him to put the Gunners two goals up in the 31st minute. AFP -
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - 3. His failure to bring Madueke’s pass under control in the 43rd minute encapsulated a first-half performance during which he was mostly a spectator. Ended the half with nine touches and got subbed off at half-time. EPA -
SUBS: Kai Havertz (Aubameyang 46') - 5. Showed good strength to shrug off Kiwior and put Ramsdale to work in the 92nd minute. Forced Ramsdale into a more routine save a minute later with a header that lacked power. Reuters -
Conor Gallagher (Enzo 71') - N/A. Worked hard after coming on but just couldn’t provide that bit of quality to force a second goal for the Blues. AP -
Mykhailo Mudryk (Sterling 71') - N/A. Put in several dangerous crosses from set pieces after coming on. Displayed nice bit of skill to get past White and find Havertz with a dinked cross in the 93rd minute. Getty -
Hakim Ziyech (Madueke 79') - N/A. Had a couple of nice touches after coming on. Getty -
Trevoh Chalobah (Fofana 86') - N/A. Came on too late to make an impact. Reuters
"So we got the basics a bit better and we had more of a dynamic nature about us, and we created a couple of decent chances and scored a goal from it.
"They are small gains but that can’t be from 45 minutes until the end when you come to a place like this.
"If you haven’t been conditioning and doing that on Wednesday and Thursday, you won’t do it on a Saturday or whatever matchday you want to talk about. When those things don’t become you as a group, it doesn't change overnight and we are seeing that at the moment."
Chelsea have five games remaining of their season, with a trip to Bournemouth on Saturday next up.
