CHELSEA boss Frank Lampard has called out Mesut Ozil as the reason his side drew at home with Arsenal on Tuesday night. The former Blues player says his side struggled to deal with the movement and positioning of the Gunners’ playmaker. Mikel Arteta’s men took control of the game which ended in a 2-2 draw […]
CHELSEA boss Frank Lampard has called out Mesut Ozil as the reason his side drew at home with Arsenal on Tuesday night.
The former Blues player says his side struggled to deal with the movement and positioning of the Gunners’ playmaker.
Mikel Arteta’s men took control of the game which ended in a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge, despite the visitors being down to 10 men after David Luiz was sent off in the first half.
When asked why his side struggled to take control despite having a man advantage, Lampard explained: ”Well I think probably for 15 minutes in the first half it did because I think we were still probably in the mindset of them with 11.
”And Ozil pulling out to the side and giving you some problems and I think we ended up being in a kind of middle ground.
”So I was pleased for half-time so I could address that”.
He also told BT Sport: ”I think we were used to having a little bit of an issue where Ozil comes out to the side and we sort of stayed in the mode of dealing with them with 11, when really with 10 we could have been more aggressive”.
He said he made tweaks during half time, adding: ”The I thought the second half was what it was, we had loads of the ball, we were in their half most of the time, they had a few breakaways- that can happen.
”Sometimes being tentative when they’ve got 10 is wrong, you have to go in and still be really positive to make sure they don’t get out.
”And they had a few moments and they fought for it and that’s what they should do in a London derby.
”So the initiative is on us to be really ruthless about doing the right things, to move the ball quick enough, to take your chances when they came along.
”I thought we moved it quick enough at times but we didn’t take our chances when we got them”.
The 59-year-old went on to say that he hasn’t ”got the appetite” for the English game.
Although that may have appeared to be the case under recently ousted boss Unai Emery, it is clear to see since then as well as on Tuesday night that Ozil has come out of his shell and shone like the star he once was under new manager Arteta.
