Chelsea drew 1-1 with Bohemians in their first pre-season game of the summer under Frank Lampard and the new head coach reveals poor fitness was a reason for the draw.
Chelsea got their goal early in the first half when Belgium international Michy Batshuayi – who has spent the past two seasons on loan at Borussia Dortmund, Valencia and Crystal Palace – scored from close range.
The Blues went into half-time with a marginal lead that traveled deep into the second half, before Eric Molley scored in the 89th minute to equalise for Bohemians in Dublin, Ireland.
Lampard chose to go with a number of youngsters to start the game, evidently after most of his senior players arrived early this week. Liam Twomey of ESPN tweeted what he thought of a few of the starters, as seen below.
Ampadu & Batshuayi were the standout performers in that first half for me. Drinkwater also seemed eager to impress – as well as simply just play some football #cfc
— Liam Twomey (@liam_twomey) July 10, 2019
Danny Drinkwater, who has barely played a full game in over a year also started the game and Chelsea’s 41-year old head coach says his side suffered during the 90 minutes due to a lack of fitness.
“It was a good run out. We had good support and thanks for people turning out. It was a tough first game for us as we have not been back for long. We’ve only been back just a few days, so there had been some pressure on the lads and we have been working them very hard. I am pleased with the outcome.”
“Fitness was our issue, but I wanted to stretch them a bit and put them under pressure. This is what pre-season is all about, and the quicker we get there, to the level we want, then the better. We wanted to win the game as you always do but it is not about that.”
Frank Lampard, Goal
That’s the whole purpose of pre-season. Building fitness levels and working towards the new season as a collective. We have no doubt the squad will be ready by the time Manchester United (A) comes around.
