Frank Lampard suffered a third successive defeat since his Chelsea return against Brighton and admitted this was the most deserved of the lot.
Chelsea were humbled at home by Brighton, a club they have poached a manager, backroom staff and player from in recent months, to extend their winless run to six games.
The gulf between the teams was huge and not reflected by the narrow margin of Brighton’s victory and Lampard conceded: ‘It was the most deserved one [defeat of the three].’
And following his first home game since his Chelsea comeback Lampard accepted the performance was even more concerning than the final result, which followed losses in his opening two games against Wolves and Real Madrid.
He said: ‘More than defeats, it’s performance we have to talk about. Wins only come with performance and in terms of performance that was the most disappointing one because we were well beaten.
Frank Lampard has led Chelsea to three losses in as many games in his second spell as Blues boss
They were beaten 2-1 by Brighton on Saturday to extend their winless run to six games
‘In the basics of football — and it’s a really good Brighton team so we must give them credit, they’re a fantastic team and they can perform like that against pretty much anyone in the league — but we were short, a yard short, a tackle short, a fighting duel moment short, and when that’s not right you’re not going to win games.
‘You have to have the capacity to do that as well, as well as the desire and at the minute we’re falling short on that and we have to turn it around quickly.’
Chelsea have the small matter of a Champions League quarter-final second leg against Real Madrid up next on Tuesday, a game they will start 2-0 down.
Danny Welbeck and 19-year-old Julio Enciso found the net for Brighton after Conor Gallagher’s opener
Lampard added: ‘It’s not for me to talk about where the intensity and aggression is coming from, but it’s for me to try to get to the bottom of it quickly and change it.
‘It’s my job to get as much improvement as I can but from that performance we certainly have work to do.
‘I can only be honest, I can’t sit here and say, “Not a bad game, we didn’t deserve to lose”, and I don’t think the players would expect anything else because I can see their faces after the game.
‘The only thing now that matters is the reaction and that’s what matters now until the end of the season.’
Source: dailymail.co.uk
