Chelsea will find themselves “going nowhere” unless they fix ongoing issues in defence, says Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
Frank Lampard has seen leaks spring on a regular basis throughout his tenure at Stamford Bridge.
Plugging them is proving to be difficult, despite big-money investment in the transfer market.
Thiago Silva is among those to have been added to the ranks in a serious summer refresh, but the experienced Brazilian made a costly error in a dramatic 3-3 draw with West Brom last time out.
Chelsea displayed commendable fighting spirit in that contest, as they battled back from three goals down to snatch a point at The Hawthorns.
They are, however, still looking for the spark that many expected them to find after adding more proven performers to their ranks.
Hasselbaink feels the Blues need to become more proactive, rather than reactive.
The former Chelsea striker is also looking for the west London outfit to address their long-standing issues at the back in order to become the challengers for major honours that they intend to be.
“It’s a big step but you don’t want to become a team that just reacts after the event,” Hasselbaink, who spent four years at Stamford Bridge in his playing days, told Matchday Live in the wake of a six-goal thriller against West Brom.
“You want to become a team that does it straight away.
“They needed to react in this manner. It was always about that first goal [in the second half having been 3-0 behind] – can you get it as quickly as possible and then you will make them nervous. They did get it.
“And, yes, they were better in the second half, the intensity was higher but it’s still a work in progress.
“Giving chances away needs to stop otherwise you’re going nowhere.”
Lampard, who believes his side will hit their stride after the October international break, accepts that Chelsea need to tighten up at the back in order to hit lofty targets.
He said after witnessing a frustrating outing in the West Midlands: "It was three defensive mistakes for three goals. They scored with their three attempts on target, which made it very difficult.
"We controlled the game other than that. We had some chances and the question was how much character would we come out with second half. I always felt we could do it, but it is still two points lost.
"There was a lack of urgency in our game. We can move the ball quicker, the movement of the ball was slow in the first half. When we started to move it quicker and cut through them we became more dangerous.
"I would be stupid to say we can make three mistakes, give ourselves a mountain to climb and be happy with that.
"We have to accept the fact that this is a process in real time."