'Slow' Chelsea had no solutions on Lampard's managerial bow, says Hasselbaink

Former Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was critical of his old club as they made a slow, sluggish start to life under new manager Frank Lampard.

The Blues played a doleful 1-1 draw with League of Ireland side Bohemians in their first pre-season match of the summer on Wednesday, the first game at the helm for the club’s record goalscorer since he joined from Derby County.

Lampard replaced outgoing boss Maurizio Sarri after the Italian left for Serie A champions Juventus foolowing a single season in charge at Stamford Bridge.

It’s just the second managerial posting of the 41-year-old’s short coaching career after he lead the Rams to the Championship play-off final in May, a game they lost to Aston Villa to miss out on promotion to the Premier League.

And former striker Hasselbaink thinks there is much work to be done to get the Blues to a level where they are ready to challenge to win back the title they won under Antonio Conte in 2017.

“They lost the ball way too easy,” said the former Netherlands international on Chelsea’s official coverage of the match.

“Players were having too many touches, sometimes seven, eight touches and it slows the game down. It will be a lesson for Frank to see players and in a way it will make his mind up.

“Moving the ball fast is his idea of how he wants to play the game. The majority of successful teams do move the ball quickly.

“We saw today, especially in the second half, certain players were dwelling a little bit too much on the ball.

“They didn’t have a solution before they had the ball. It might be that it’s pre-season, it might be that they’re not fit yet and it will come. For some it might be a little too much.”

Lampard’s first task will be deciding which members of Sarri’s underperforming team from last term will remain in his plans as he sets about winning over Stamford Bridge as a manager.

Eden Hazard has already departed the club for Real Madrid this summer, with USA international Christian Pulisic having joined from Borussia Dortmund and Mateo Kovacic having made his loan deal from Real permanent.

“That is for Frank to figure out, who those players are and who he will go further with,” said Hasselbaink. “That’s why those games are so important.”