Chelsea: Owen Hargreaves and Glen Hoddle serve up ominous warning

Things will get worse at Chelsea before they get better as players are ‘playing with anxiety’, believes former Blues star Glenn Hoddle. 

Frank Lampard oversaw a fifth straight defeat since returning as interim boss, with Brentford running out 2-0 winners at Stamford Bridge.

Fans were furious beforehand at the team selection – which had Conor Gallagher up front – and Chelsea were as blunt as they appeared.

For Hoddle, no clear focal point is killing them, and his BT Sport colleague Owen Hargreaves fears there is no light at the end of this season’s tunnel. 

‘They’ve got no focal point and they don’t have any shape. Whatever that shape is, they don’t play to it,’ Hoddle said.

Chelsea’s miserable season continued as they suffered a 2-0 home defeat against Brentford

Both Glenn Hoddle (left) and Owen Hargreaves (right) predict things will get even worse

‘Their confidence is so low. They are doubting themselves and playing with anxiety and I think it could get worse before it gets better.’

Hargreaves added: ‘I think it is going to get worse. 

‘They’ve got some really tough fixtures and I don’t think there is any clear identity there. You have to settle on something. Have to find a way to score goals.

‘What are Chelsea? Even if you are Chelsea fan, you watch them and think what are they?’

The ex-Manchester United player continued: ‘And even now – I know it is only five games for Frank – but you don’t know what they are.’

Players were booed off at half-time and at the finish by those that stayed – many headed for the exits with 10 minutes to go – and Lampard accepted that fans very much should be worried. 

‘Absolutely the fans are going to be worried,’ Lampard said. ‘If you’re a Chelsea fan, you’ve been used to 20 years of success, you’re used to it and you want it more.

‘I’ve got no problem with fans booing. I’m not sitting here to go against the fans and say don’t boo the players. I’ll defend the players because they’re young lads who want to do well. Is there an issue with confidence? Yes. Is there an issue with the balance of the squad? Maybe yes.

Interim boss Frank Lampard agreed that fans should be worried amid this disastrous form

‘I’m not patronising everybody, I expect them to have an idea what’s going on behind the scenes, but when you work with it in this Premier League, if you think Brentford are going to come and turn you around and have corners and throw-ins against you and you’re going to walk that game, that’s not the case any time.

‘When you’re in this moment with a lack of confidence, then it can be difficult to win a game. I’m not exonerating the players, far from it. I’m just supporting them. They’re in there disappointed because they wanted to win that game. They performed in my opinion like they wanted to win it.

‘Is there a confidence issue? Yes. Are we dynamic enough in the final third? No. Have we been for a long time before I came here? No. Those things are not things that are going to turn overnight. We have to keep working.

‘I understand the fans booing. I don’t think anybody is saying they can’t believe that’s the case today.’