That Marcos Alonso moment
There is a reason that Frank Lampard is so keen on a new Chelsea left-back, and that is what happened in the final minutes.
With the Blues caught on the break, those chasing back should have been busting a gut to get back in position.
While Andriy Yarmolenko would have been a lot fresher than Marcos Alonso, the way the Spaniard reacted was not good enough.
He could clearly see the winger making his move, but the left-back did little more than break into a jog.
It was an excellent ball from Michail Antonio, and the finish from the Ukrainian was certainly well taken, but the lack of Alonso run was poor to see.
Lampard is after a left-back who has both the qualities for getting forward and back, and at the moment he doesn’t have that combination.
Alonso’s attacking stats are excellent, however defensively he has often been caught short. While Emerson Palmieri has often not given enough in the final third.
The left-back role could be a big one for Chelsea, and Lampard is keen to fix it.
Set pieces
Once again the massive frustration for Blues fans would have been to see their team concede from a set piece.
Every time the opposition put the ball into the box from a corner or free-kick, there constantly seems to be an element of danger for the Blues.
They have never looked comfortable all season and the match ups just looked completely wrong.
“When a team is bigger than you, as they were today, you can work all week... if someone is much taller than the opponent and out jumps them then they are going to score goals,” Lampard said.
“That's what happens, so we were aware they were bigger than us today and they were going to try and score goals or win the game. But the players have to deal with that on the pitch.”
That might be the case, but seeing the 5ft 10in Cesar Azpilicueta marking the 6ft 4in Tomas Soucek just looked wrong.
He was uncomfortable in both the VAR disallowed goal and then the equaliser just before the break.
It’s something Chelsea have to sort out as it is just going to cost them constantly for the rest of the campaign.
The centre-back partnership
One of the big areas of Lampard’s issues this season has been the centre-back position and the chopping and changing.
The Blues boss is unlikely to pin blame on whichever duo is at the back, and has often looked at the whole team performance.
But there is no getting around the fact that Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen were given a real runaround.
It seemed to come down to concentration, as the Hammers didn’t see a lot of the ball, but they made their chances count.
Kurt Zouma might count himself unlucky for not having much of a look-in in recent games, however that could well change.
Christensen and Rudiger haven’t massively worked over the campaign and they have kept just one clean sheet when starting together.
It’s something Lampard might look at and change to solidify the Champions League spots.
Tammy Abraham’s woes
Tammy Abraham has had a promising debut season, but 2020 has been a struggle for the England international.
Since the turn of the year, the striker has netted just once as he has suffered with an ankle injury and then, of course, the long break.
While Abraham put in a real shift against Leicester at the weekend, it seemed strange to see him start against West Ham last night.
Olivier Giroud has played well since coming into the starting XI, having scored against Aston Villa and played a big part of the early wins.
Abraham really struggled against the Hammers and he never got close to scoring, while his hold up play was poor.
Giroud surely has to be the starting number nine for the rest of the campaign, and it has to be his to lose.
Getting the best out of Christian Pulisic
While there was little to be positive about in the game, the one real shining light was that of Christian Pulisic.
The American has looked in fine form since the restart of the Premier League and Lampard would have been delighted that he came through his injury to play.
Once again, Pulisic looked the sharpest and the brightest on the pitch for the Blues, constantly trying to be positive.
He won the penalty for the opener and then the free-kick for the equaliser, being the main creative spark with his pace and skill.
It is looking like Pulisic might have to play last season’s Eden Hazard role, dragging the Blues through when they needed.
Lampard needs to use Pulisic wisely and know when to pull him out of the side, but if Chelsea are to get top four then it looks like Pulisic could be the key.
