Frank Lampard has admitted his side weren't good enough during their 1-0 defeat to Everton, and feels it was a reality check for those who have said Chelsea have the best squad in the division and are Premier League title favourites.
The Blues fell behind to a Gylfi Sigurdsson penalty at Goodison Park on Saturday and were unable to fashion a response.
Lampard says his side did not stand up to the physical challenge posed by Everton, and feels lessons will be learned from the performance.
The defeat is their first in any competition since the loss to Liverpool on September 20, and Lampard says it is an indicator that his side should not be classed as title favourites – as Reds manager Jurgen Klopp said recently.
“It is a long season,” Lampard told BT Sport. “If it makes people who are talking about us, saying we are going to win the league, we have got the best squad in the league. It is ridiculous stuff.
"When you talk about best squads, you have to look at the teams who have won it in the last two, three, four years. Their squads are full of strikers and wingers who score 30 or 40 goals a season and midfield players who have won multiple league titles all over the place.
“We have some, but we have young players and as a squad we are not there.
“In two or three years if I am still here and have a couple of leagues in our pocket and you ask me if we are title contenders I will say yes, but at the moment people want to look at our squad and talk about it.
“It is very quick that it has gone from after West Brom and Southampton and we were nowhere near good enough, rubbish, useless. Now last week we have the best squad in the league and are going to win it.
“We are probably somewhere in the middle and that’s the reality of it.”
Commenting on his side's display, Lampard said: “We were not at our best. The first 20 minutes were key. I knew it was coming, longer balls, second balls, a team desperate for a win and with capabilities to make it really difficult.
“When you go 1-0 down it absolutely is their game plan which is to make it difficult. They did it well and we did not have enough. For our levels, for what we have been recently, it’s not good enough.
“The lads are gutted in there as we have been on a good run. It was a big test and we did not pass the test, but we will in the future.”
Everton’s winning goal from the spot came after goalkeeper Edouard Mendy raced off his line and fouled Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
It was not a great decision from Mendy, but Lampard said he had been outstanding since his arrival from Rennes.
“I don’t think he was just culpable,” Lampard said. “He has been outstanding since he’s been here, so I'll take that one.”
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