Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has been told to teach his side how to win 1-0, with Gus Poyet calling for better ‘balance’ from a Blues team that remain inconsistent at the back.
Those flaws were highlighted once again in their most recent outing as the west-London outfit slipped to a 3-0 defeat away at Sheffield United.
That setback has Lampard’s side sweating on Champions League qualification, with a top-four finish far from being wrapped up.
Fate is, however, still in their own hands with three games left to take in, while there remains plenty of potential to unlock heading towards 2020-21.
Poyet hopes Lampard can find a way of getting Chelsea firing on all cylinders, with too many players being carried at times in his debut campaign.
That was the case at Bramall Lane, with a team blessed with a wealth of attacking options unable to find a solution when it comes to keep opponents at arm’s length.
Former Blues star Poyet told Stadium Astro: ‘We are all different, that’s the good thing about football, we all train in a different way, we all think in a different away.
‘For example, myself, even if I like my team to treat the football very well, and pay attention and create attacks, I start my team from the back.
‘I make sure that first we are organised, we are tight, we make it difficult for the opposition, we care about not conceding, like our goal is our house, they cannot get in there.
‘Sometimes we try to split, he’s an offensive manager, he’s a defensive manager, and there’s nothing in between, but there is. The best teams in the world defend very well and attack very well.
‘It’s having the right balance and that’s what I want to see from Chelsea next year – a better balance in their play. More practical sometimes, win 1-0, why not?
‘The best teams in the world win leagues winning 1-0 when they are not having a good day. [Sheffield United] was a day for Chelsea to say, “We’re not having a good day, let’s make sure we’re solid, we’ve got enough players to score a goal and we win 1-0.”
‘I would start with that, to have a better organisation in terms of defending. I’m not going to take out [Kurt] Zouma because he’s a very strong defender. Without going too far, the tackle the other day against Crystal Palace in the last minute, there are not many players who can do that.
‘But he was static. He was static in everything. Even in the last goal which everyone will remember for [Antonio] Rudiger not kicking the ball away but he [Zouma] doesn’t even try to stop the cross.
‘He’s running but he didn’t even stretch himself, he didn’t even have to stop, it was like he was having one of those days where you’re not feeling well and you’re not really there, concentrating enough.
‘In football I say a team can carry one player in a game, two players [more difficult], more than two you can’t carry because the opposition can play. And that’s what happened to Chelsea, there were too many who were not at the level you need to be to win football games.’
Chelsea have moved into third spot on the Premier League table, but they are just a point clear of Leicester and two ahead of a resurgent Manchester United side – who could rise above them with victory over Southampton on Monday.