Noni Madueke's goal against Arsenal was only a consolation for Frank Lampard as Chelsea lost 3-1 thanks to goals from Martin Odegaard twice and Gabriel Jesus.

Chelsea's caretaker manage has been kinder in his assessments than many in recent weeks. He certainly could have been harsher following defeat to Brentford, and understandably did not overly lay into the squad in the early part of his tenure, despite what his demeanour often suggested. 
 The 44-year-old had little defence of Chelsea's first half against Arsenal however. Lampard's frustration was evident in his tone. He said: "The first half performance was not good enough, in every way. We were nice to play against in every way, nice off the ball, passive. 
Things we spoke about before the game defensively we didn't do. We didn't restrict space between the lines, we didn't get the line up as much as we didn't do, we didn't pressure the ball, we didn't make contact with Arsenal players. Then on the ball, same. Passing short, passing to ourselves in bad position, not playing longer, not making forwards runs, things that we talked about. Play like that, you get what you get." Those characteristics have been too present in Chelsea's play at times this season, and having now lost six games in a row it feels like there will be a challenge to overcome it. 
Lampard has noted he is becoming more 'practical' in his work in charge of Chelsea. Perhaps not soon enough.

Issues other than fitness Lampard realized right on after being hired that the team's ability to carry out its responsibilities was insufficient. They lacked the physical readiness to perform as needed. Due to the scheduling of games, the interim manager had limited opportunity to instantly increase his team's stamina after returning to Stamford Bridge. However, with only two games in two weeks, there has been more time to practice on the practice field, and the Blues manager will be disappointed if he does not see the advantage. Lampard mentioned fitness as a problem once more in reference to the players' inability to display the required aggression on the field.

He explained: "It is a basic. It's two things. I think it's a mental desire, to get up to people. It also starts with the capacity to be able to do it. If you haven't been conditioning and doing that and doing that and you don't do it on Wednesday, don't do it on Thursday, you won't do it on Saturday or whatever day you want to talk about. When those things become you as a group, they don't change overnight and we're seeing that at the moment."

While the players' capacity may come into question, during the first 45 minutes their ability to want compete also did. The inclination to challenge Arsenal in possession and to then take the game to them was simply not apparent.

Noni Madueke offers the blueprint

It was difficult to feel any positivity given the manner of Chelsea's defeat but Noni Madueke tried to find some. The Blues struggled to produce or find the young winger and Madueke did his best early to create something himself.

Aubameyang should have done better from one of his passes, while the England under-21 international showed some persistence in the second period to work up and down the right flank. The former PSV star was worth his goal, as he took advantage of the space he earned behind Oleksandar Zincheko before smartly finishing.

Lampard included the youngster due to the quality of his work on the training pitch and must do that with others moving forward. Madueke should start with Bournemouth and if other young players or new signings impress before facing the Cherries, it should be those players that are relied upon. 

Chelsea's boss plans to see more.

He said: "Now it's the question of five games to compete with each other, like Noni did tonight in his performance from two weeks of good training, to show you deserve to be in the team. Those should be the rules anyway: now or never. People say there's nothing on these games but they're wrong. Every individual has a lot on these games."

It's time for Lampard to make use of more players in similiar situations, despite the risks. It doesn't often feel like things could get much worse at the moment.

With Chelsea 2-0 down, Ben Chilwell and Thiago Silva were soon into a furious discussion with some forceful gestures. Enzo Fernandez joined, seemingly to calm things down but the World Cup winner also seemed to be involved as the team tried to dissect their failures.

By the time of the third goal, the reaction was muted. Players trudged to their positions and even an aggressive player in Wesley Fofana could only sink into disappointment. The Frenchman slowly raied from his haunches to lie against the post and take it all in.

In recent weeks, seeing Chelsea players deliberate their positions and discussing tactics on the field has appeared more frequently. While Lampard attempts to work out the best system with each game, the players on the pitch are still working out playing together.

Coversations occur in abundance, with Wesley Fofana and Cesar Azpilcueta also in discussion, while Silva could not hide his frustration with the lack of movement ahead of his as he brought the ball upfield and almost shrugged as he did so. Fofana was left frustrated when substituted towards full time.

It's not say the squad don't care, but at the moment the focus of energy is not proving helpful.