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As we enter the final legs of the season, with Chelsea one step away from silverware and two games away from Champions League qualification, one has to say that it has been a stellar season for the Blues.
Frank Lampard came into the job last summer with little expectations and plenty of hope, but he seems to have delivered on most counts.
After a tumultuous but successful year under Maurizio Sarri, Chelsea became a bore to watch and were labouring to victories instead of coasting to them.
Lampard has done well to reverse that trend, and Chelsea are now an exciting team, full of vibrant youth and attacking flair. However, as most youthful attacking teams do, Chelsea have blown hot and cold this season.
Their league campaign started on a sour note with a 4-0 drubbing against Manchester United, but Chelsea did well to recover from that setback. Lampard won the Premier League Manager of the Month in October as Chelsea went on a six-game winning streak in the league between September and November.
Sadly, that was followed by a 14-game run in the league where they only won four times and lost seven. To make matters worse, Chelsea suffered a 3-0 hammering at home in their Champions League Round of 16 first leg against Bayern Munich.
Since the restart, Chelsea has been electrifying at times, beating the likes of Manchester City and Manchester United in the FA Cup. But along with those performances, there have also been some woeful defeats to West Ham and Sheffield United.
After the dust settles at the end of the season, Chelsea could get a trophy and finish third in the league in their first season under Frank Lampard despite a transfer ban, which is commendable.
Chelsea's trust in youth is paying off
Through both circumstances and choice, Chelsea have adopted a new strategy this season and have finally started to put faith in their youth. It started from their bold managerial decision.
After years of riding the manager merry-go-round and sacking them on a whim, Chelsea made an appointment for the long term. Chelsea were previously known for picking successful and experienced European coaches like Carlo Ancelotti, Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri.
But this time they went with the more youthful and pulsating choice in Frank Lampard. Lampard has handed debuts to eight Chelsea academy graduates this season, which is more than that by any other manager in the club's history.
Part of that was down to Chelsea’s transfer ban that they suffered due to breaching UEFA rules, but they finally found a manager who can guide and develop their successful youth prospects.
The likes of Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori have grown into Chelsea the team this season and are already first-team regulars. Youngsters such as Reece James and Billy Gilmour have shown plenty of promise as well.
Chelsea's signings under Lampard
Chelsea have already made significant headway in the transfer market to try and close the gap on the top two of Liverpool and Manchester City.
Hakim Ziyech was signed in February with little competition and then Timo Werner was poached from right under Liverpool’s nose last month for a bargain fee in the region of £50 million.
Christian Pulisic has done well this season to replicate some of Eden Hazard's attacking threat, but Chelsea were still missing some of that firepower which they have now acquired.
Timo Werner scored 34 goals and bagged 13 assists last season for RB Leipzig, and Hakim Ziyech has been Ajax’s player of the year for the past three seasons. The duo will significantly boost Chelsea’s Premier League prospects next season, but it will be interesting to see how Lampard might set up with these two players in his side.
At Leipzig, Werner played in a front-two next to a traditional target man such as Youssef Poulsen. For Chelsea, he can be used in a front-2 alongside Olivier Giroud.
However, Frank Lampard’s preferred choice of formation this season has been a 4-2-3-1. That might see Werner used at the top as the only number nine. Unfortunately, Werner is not great with his back to goal and does not have great hold-up play.
Hence, he might struggle initially playing as the lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 system as he did with Germany at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Instead, he can start on the left as an inside forward, similar to the role that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has done for Arsenal.
Ziyech is also a tactically fluid player who can play both as a central attacking midfielder or on the right, which would give Lampard various options in attack.
Which other areas do Chelsea need strengthening?
It is clear that while Chelsea have already made two attacking signings, their major problems are in defence.
They have conceded 54 goals in 37 games in the league this season, (which is as many as that of Crystal Palace) and that is not going to help them win titles.
In Antonio Rudiger, Kurt Zouma and Fikayo Tomori, Chelsea have decent center-backs, but none of them are elite like Aymeric Laporte or Virgil Van Dijk, something that is needed to win championships.
Similarly left-back is another area of concern. Marcos Alonso is not viable in a back-four. Emerson Palmieri on his way out, with the likes of Nicolas Tagliafico and Ben Chilwell from Leicester being mooted as possible replacements.
However, the major problem area is undoubtedly between the sticks.
Kepa Arrizalabalga was signed for a world-record transfer fee for a goalkeeper (£72 million). To say that he has been a disappointment would be an understatement.
He has the lowest save percentage (56%) among goalkeepers in the Premier League this season, and to make matters worse, he has the highest difference between goals against and expected goals on target.
Arrizalabalga has conceded 42 goals this season but has an expected 'goals on target' of 33.5. That means he has conceded 8.5 goals more than he should have, based on the shots he has faced.
Chelsea have been linked with the likes of Andre Onana, Dean Henderson and Jan Oblak. The goalkeeping position is one they must strengthen if they aim to pose a serious threat to the Premier League title next season.
Kai Havertz to Chelsea?
Despite their defensive deficiencies, it is being reported that Chelsea are the front runners to sign Kai Havertz, the prince of German football.
It would take a significant fee upwards of £70 million to land the Bayer Leverkusen man, but if they can do it then there is no reason why they should not sign him.
Critics have opined that Chelsea should forget signing him and instead look at defensive options, but that shouldn’t necessarily be the case. In an ideal world, Chelsea should have the finances to buy all their primary targets. But even if they don’t, they shouldn’t turn down the opportunity to sign a player of Kai Havertz’s calibre and potential.
Chelsea need to be realistic. They are unlikely to win the Premier League next season as it is a near impossible task to cover a 30-point gap in one season. But if they can get their three attacking signings in this window (Werner, Havertz and Ziyech), it will allow the trio to adjust to the pace and physicality of the Premier League next season.
Along with further additions in goal and defence in the next three transfer windows, Chelsea can mount a serious title challenge in 2021-22. This is precisely what Jurgen Klopp did at Liverpool.
His first three singings were all attacking ones in Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain. Once these three were settled in the league, Klopp went big to get Van Dijk, Fabinho and Alisson, that instantly transformed Liverpool into title contenders.
Chelsea's transfer ban last season may have been a blessing in disguise. That has allowed the club to have enough money in the bank to spend in the upcoming transfer window where there is not expected to be much competition.
Going by the way the likes of Marina Granovskaia and Petr Cech have set up Chelsea, it seems like they could have the best chance to break the Liverpool and Manchester City duopoly that has ruled the Premier League in the last few seasons.
