TheMagicFoolBus
Full Member
I think Lampard did an incredible job at lowering expectations to the point that he created a pressure free environment for the players to operate in. I don’t even mean that as a sleight on him. I think it was a genuinely good move that has reaped the rewards.
This is not a remotely good argument given that your Hazard-less attack has functioned very very well. What reason for the shocking regression in your defensive stability?
I mean, we had a transfer ban and we lost our best player by a mile who accounted for more or less half our league goals. I don't think expectations were out of line. You're looking at things retrospectively - because the attack worked well without Hazard, you're effectively arguing that Lampard shouldn't get credit despite the fact that there were massive questions over Tammy, Mount, James, Tomori, etc. - none of these had played significant minutes in the top flight.
The defensive issues are down to Kepa being absolute dogshit and the implementation of a much more open style of play especially in the absence of Kante (e.g. fullbacks pushing on, only 3 men behind the ball, etc.). Going forward, I'd hope Lampard addresses this but for me this is hardly a stick to beat him with - we were 4th in xGA this season (better than Liverpool) and I'd rather see how things go with a competent goalkeeper instead of literally the worst in the history of the PL.