Lampard was right! Mudryk, Felix and Sterling deserved dropped

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 19 Apr 2023 17:04 BST
• 4 min read

Chelsea’s Champions League exit to Real Madrid on Tuesday was marked once again by the Blues’ inability to find the net.

It was the 15th time in their last 25 games that Chelsea have failed to score a single goal – a damning statistic for any team, but particularly one that has spent more than £600 million on players in less than a year.

Interim manager Frank Lampard has now lost all four games he has overseen, with the Blues only able to find the net once under their former midfield hero.

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Lampard’s team selection raised eyebrows in midweek. The Blues surprisingly started with Conor Gallagher in the starting XI, with several of their most high-profile attacking players left on the bench from the outset of the game.

Signings Joao Felix, Raheem Sterling and Mykhailo Mudryk were among the players left out of the starting XI.

Without this trio, though, Chelsea started promisingly. From 12 shots, the Blues generated an Expected Goals (xG) tally of 1.53.

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Lampard made a sweeping change in the second half shortly after Chelsea had fallen 1-0 behind on the night and 3-0 back on aggregate. Needing a miracle, he turned to his bench and invited all three players to onto the field in a last-ditch bid to save the Blues’ season.

Once Felix, Sterling and Mudryk were on the field, Chelsea generated seven shots but offered an xG of just 0.32.

What this means for Chelsea

Although Chelsea generated half the shots in around one-third of the time – on the face of it a positive thing – the quality of these scoring opportunities was typically low. Indeed, had they continued this rate over 90 minutes, Lampard would have seen his side created around 0.96 xG – far, far below what they managed without their typical ‘attacking’ players in 67 minutes on Tuesday.

This could be written off as Chelsea trying everything and showing a willingness to take on risky shots given the gravity of the situation but given these players have consistently misfired since arriving at the club, it points to a more worrying trend that has plagued the club all season.

Chelsea are not in action until a Premier League fixture with Brentford next Wednesday, and in the meantime their forward players are left with more soul-searching to do after they only justified Lampard’s decision to drop them.