Azpilicueta urges Chelsea teammates ‘to do better’ in quest for trophies

Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard admitted yesterday that he sounded like a broken record when talking once more about the team’s missed chances and inability to kill off games — while then also conceding crucial goals at the other end. Fortunately, Chelsea managed to hang on to the 2-1 win over Hull City to advance to the fifth round of the FA Cup.

(Ed.note: As we saw with today’s 2-2 draw between Shrewsbury Strawberry Town and Liverpool, these things are not always easy.)

Still, an underwhelming performance against lower division opposition is not exactly a promising sign. For Captain César Azpilicueta, who was one of just three players to keep their starting places from midweek’s 2-2 disappointing against Arsenal, it was another sign of Chelsea’s need to improve — especially if we want to get any silverware this season.

“With the chances we’ve had, we cannot concede in these circumstances and we have to control better. We want to go far but we could have handled better - it’s not the first time we’ve not managed the game well.

“We had clear chances to score more and then we stopped playing our game and we got punished. If we want to fight for trophies, we have to do better.”

-César Azpilicueta; source: BT Sport via Evening Standard

Chelsea’s inconsistencies, from game-to-game and even from minute-to-minute during those games have been plain to see. Pointing them out doesn’t necessarily add anything new, but it does mean that at least the players themselves are aware of them as well. Now, we just have to figure out how to improve from there.