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With the news yesterday that Derby County have officially given Chelsea permission to speak to their manager Frank Lampard about the vacant managerial job at Stamford Bridge, it seems only a formality now until the former Blues legend is officially confirmed as Chelsea’s new boss, following last week’s announcement of Maurizio Sarri moving to Juventus.
Lampard – who played for Chelsea between 2001 and 2014, making 648 appearances and scoring 211 goals – would be a risky appointment of sorts given he’s only 41 years old and has just one season of management under his belt at Derby, but he did a good job at Pride Park, guiding the Rams to the Championship play-off finals where they eventually lost to Aston Villa.
More to the point – along with assistant boss and fellow former Chelsea player Jody Morris – Lampard gained a reputation for developing young players, as Chelsea loanees Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori, along with Liverpool loanee Harry Wilson were all given valuable playing time and experience in 2018/19 at Derby.
And that faith in youth could prove invaluable at Chelsea, who are currently under a transfer ban and won’t be able to sign any new players for the next two transfer windows, and who have just sold their best player in Eden Hazard.
So how could the Blues line up next season under new boss Lampard? Their side could look something like this.
Also see : EPL Transfer News, Copa America Standings, Womens World Cup Bracket
Goalkeeper: Kepa Arrizabalaga
Maurizio Sarri’s reign as Chelsea boss might not have gone to plan, but one thing that did work out for the Italian was his signing of Spanish goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, who was brought in from Athletic Bilbao for around £71m to replace the outgoing Thibault Courtois.
Despite Chelsea’s struggles at times, Kepa was able to keep 14 clean sheets in the Premier League – third only behind the outstanding Alisson and Ederson – and impressively, he didn’t make a single individual error that led to a goal all season. Kepa also played a huge role in Chelsea’s Europa League win, saving two penalties in the semi-final shootout win over Eintracht Frankfurt.
Lampard may have to curb Kepa’s attitude at times – he infamously clashed with Sarri during the Carabao Cup final when the Italian attempted to substitute him for Willy Caballero – but essentially he should have a top class goalkeeper for the next decade at his disposal.
Right-Back: Cesar Azpilicueta
There have been plenty of calls for the new Chelsea boss to dispose of some of the Blues’ ageing veterans and push youth players to the forefront, but despite the presence of red-hot prospect Reece James, who should be returning from a successful loan at Wigan, Lampard should probably stick with current team captain Cesar Azpilicueta as his right-back, at the start of the season at least.
The Spaniard is likely reaching the tail end of his career at 29 years old, but his performances last year suggested there’s life in him yet, and having played at Stamford Bridge since 2012 – spending time playing alongside Lampard himself in fact – he’s got the kind of valuable experience that will be needed if Chelsea want to push for the Champions League places again next season.
James’ time will come – there’s no reason why Lampard shouldn’t use the youngster in the various cup competitions Chelsea will be involved in and Azpilicueta perhaps doesn’t need to play in all 38 Premier League fixtures as he did last season – but for now it’s probably best for Lampard to stick with experience in this position at least.
Centre-Back: David Luiz
Like Azpilicueta, Brazilian veteran David Luiz probably doesn’t have many years left in him at the top of the game – he’s 32 years old now and has always relied a little too much on his physical attributes to get him out of trouble – but having signed a new two-year deal at Stamford Bridge in May, Lampard should probably keep him at the heart of his defence for now at least.
Luiz had a good season in 2018/19, scoring highly in most of the defensive statistics – he completed 41 successful tackles, 144 clearances, 35 interceptions and had a pass success rate of 88% across his 36 Premier League appearances – and generally, he was superior to fellow veteran defender Antonio Rudiger.
There might still be questions over his concentration and temperament – is he really the right man to help a younger defender learn alongside him? – but for now he’s probably the best and most proven central defender Chelsea have, and so Lampard would be smart to stick with him.
Centre-Back: Andreas Christensen
After his successful season on loan under Lampard at Derby County, there will be plenty of calls for Fikayo Tomori to be installed as one of Chelsea’s first-choice centre-backs in 2019/20, but in all honesty it might be a little too early for the England U21 international – as his performances in the recent U21 European Championship showed. Like Reece James, Tomori’s time will come though, and Lampard should certainly deploy him in the cup competitions and some league fixtures next season.
So who should partner David Luiz at centre-back? Last season Maurizio Sarri preferred the veteran pairing of Luiz and Antonio Rudiger, but for me, Danish international Andreas Christensen would be a far better bet. Christensen had a fantastic two seasons on loan at Borussia Monchengladbach from 2015 to 2017, and then had an excellent season under Antonio Conte in 2016/17 too, winning Chelsea’s Young Player of the Year award.
Quite why Sarri restricted him to just 8 Premier League appearances last season is a mystery; his statistics are practically all superior to Rudiger’s and most impressively he averaged a pass success rate of 92.8% when he did appear in 2018/19. Pairing him with Luiz – and giving Tomori valuable experience when he can – would be the smartest idea for Lampard going forward.
Left-Back: Jay Dasilva
One player who did struggle at Chelsea last season was left-back Marcos Alonso. The Spaniard had a poor season by his standards and often frustrated Blues fans by wasting passes, leaving gaps at the back and generally struggling in big games. The general consensus from many fans and pundits was that Alonso just doesn’t suit the left-back spot in a four-man defence as well as he does being the left wing-back in a five-man defence.
So who could Chelsea replace him with, given they can’t sign new players? They do have Emerson to call upon but to be fair, the Brazilian hasn’t exactly been that convincing himself when he has played. Thankfully though, they do have a very talented youngster coming through in the form of England U21 left-back Jay Dasilva.
Dasilva spent the 2018/19 season on loan in the Championship at Bristol City and was a huge success there, making 28 appearances and chipping in with 3 assists. He scored highly in all defensive statistics, and interestingly he was one of the few England players to come away from the recent U21 European Championship with credit, as he managed a pass success rate of 94.7% during the tournament.
It’d be a risk for Lampard to take, but Dasilva is highly talented and it wouldn’t hurt to give him a go given Alonso’s struggles last season.
Midfield: N’Golo Kante
Perhaps the biggest stick that Chelsea fans were able to beat Maurizio Sarri with last season was the fact that he appeared to waste the talents of French holding midfielder N’Golo Kante. It wasn’t that Kante didn’t play, more that due to Sarri’s need for Jorginho to play as the deepest of his three midfielders, Kante was forced to play further forward than he was usually deployed, meaning his world-class screening abilities were largely lost.
Lampard isn’t likely to make the same error. Kante – who won back-to-back Premier League titles with Leicester City and Chelsea in 2015/16 and 2016/17 – is still probably the best holding midfielder in the world right now, and with the Blues’ back-line not being the strongest in the Premier League, to have a player like the Frenchman helping them with his tackling, interceptions and passing would be a massive bonus.
Kante did manage a career-best 4 goals and 4 assists last season, but it was clear that a more advanced position simply wasn’t the best use of him, as his overall drop in other statistics proved – his average rating on WhoScored.com dropped from 7.25 to 6.93, for instance – and moving him back to his preferred spot would almost be like making a new signing for Lampard.
Midfield: Ruben Loftus-Cheek
Thanks to a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered in a friendly fixture prior to the Europa League final, Ruben Loftus-Cheek won’t be available to Lampard until September or October at the earliest. Once the England international does return to fitness, though, he should almost certainly be one of the first names on his new manager’s team sheet.
It took Sarri a long time to build faith in the youngster – who has been at Stamford Bridge since the age of 8 – but towards the end of the season Loftus-Cheek had embedded himself in the Italian’s plans and was in a rich vein of form, scoring 4 goals and creating a further 5 in 15 games from the beginning of March.
Loftus-Cheek is quite unique in terms of midfielders; a physically powerful specimen who’s also a surprisingly excellent dribbler, he can impose himself on games using his size and stature but can also weave his way through a defence to set up and score goals, too. At 23 years old Loftus-Cheek hasn’t even reached his prime yet, and if he can live up to his potential he could be a star for Lampard for some time.
Midfield: Mason Mount
The creative midfield spot was one that gave Maurizio Sarri issues throughout last season, and his constant switching between Ross Barkley and Mateo Kovacic in the position became a point of contention for Chelsea fans, with many of them ridiculing the Italian’s indecision. In reality though, despite some flashes of greatness from Barkley, neither man really did enough to warrant being an automatic selection.
Kovacic likely won’t be around for 2019/20 – with Sarri leaving Stamford Bridge it seems much more likely that the Croatian international will be sent back to his parent club Real Madrid, especially as he was largely ineffective for Chelsea last season. So should Lampard put his faith in Barkley? Perhaps not. Youngster Mason Mount – who spent 2018/19 on loan at Derby under Lampard – might be a better bet.
Mount is very raw at the age of just 20, but he’s shown flashes of absolute brilliance at times and he’s an excellent creative player. He delivered 9 goals and 5 assists for Derby over 38 games last season, a better return than Barkley and Kovacic managed combined, and while his passing accuracy wasn’t that great – a 76.6% success rate – he did make an impressive 71 key passes.
If Lampard really wants to make a push to use his younger stars, then deploying Mount as a starter would be an excellent way to go.
Wide Forward: Christian Pulisic
Chelsea’s veteran wide forwards Willian and Pedro came in for some major criticism last season; despite delivering a total of 11 goals and 9 assists between them, the duo didn’t really perform up to the standards they’d set themselves previously and the likelihood is that at 30 and 31 years old respectively, they’re probably beginning to slow down somewhat. It’s probably time to stop relying on either man as a starter – but thankfully Chelsea have a pair of ready-made replacements.
The first of the two is the Blues’ newest signing – and probably their last one for a couple of transfer windows at least – American forward Christian Pulisic. Signed from Borussia Dortmund for a large fee of around £58m, it has already been reported that Pulisic is willing to cut his summer holiday short in order to join up with his new side and impress his new boss.
Pulisic hasn’t quite lived up to the lofty expectations he set for himself when he first broke through at Dortmund with some tremendous performances, but his return of 4 assists and 4 goals in just 9 Bundesliga starts last season wasn’t bad at all, and at just 20 years old his best years are likely still ahead of him. Chelsea will definitely miss Eden Hazard next season, but a flying start for Pulisic could help to alleviate that loss somewhat.
Wide Forward: Callum Hudson-Odoi
The second ready-made replacement for Pedro and/or Willian, England international Callum Hudson-Odoi enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2018/19. Initially used sparingly – the Europa League and domestic cup competitions seemed to be the only games in which Maurizio Sarri would trust him – the fans began to clamour to see him in Premier League action and eventually the Italian obliged, with Hudson-Odoi repaying him with some excellent performances towards the end of the season.
A ruptured Achilles has since curtailed his development; like his teammate Loftus-Cheek, Hudson-Odoi isn’t expected back until September at the earliest, but once he does return it’s a no-brainer for Lampard to deploy him as a starter in the Premier League. Able to play on the left or right-hand side of the attack, the exciting 18-year old more than any other player could be seen as the long-term successor to Hazard.
Chelsea may need to ensure he signs a new deal with them; right now his current contract at Stamford Bridge ends in the summer of 2020, but despite interest from Bayern Munich, the appointment of a youth-focused manager like Lampard should mean he’s willing to stay at the club. If they can ink him to a new deal, he’ll almost definitely become a key man for his new boss.
Centre-Forward: Tammy Abraham
Chelsea have struggled when it comes to a central striker recently; despite a hot start, Alvaro Morata turned out to be a massive flop and has now been sent on a two-season loan to Atletico Madrid, and while Olivier Giroud has always been a steady source of goals, at 32 years of age, the French international shouldn’t be relied upon as Chelsea’s starting striker next season. Instead, Lampard should turn to the crown jewel in the Blues’ ‘loan army’, England striker Tammy Abraham.
Abraham’s massive potential was on show in the 2016/17 season as a 19-year old, as he plundered 23 goals on loan at Championship club Bristol City. His time on loan in the Premier League at Swansea during 2017/18 wasn’t as productive, but then Swansea were a very poor side that season – particularly when it came to creating chances – and Abraham’s 2018/19 at Aston Villa was fantastic, as he scored 25 goals in 37 appearances and helped to shoot the side up into the Premier League.
Surely it’s now time for Chelsea to give Abraham a chance as the main striker. He’s proven he can score goals consistently and while the Premier League is undoubtedly a step up, he’s got the kind of predatory instincts inside the box that means he’ll likely score goals at whatever level he plays. If Lampard puts his faith in the youngster, he could well be repaid in the form of plenty of goals – and Abraham could cement himself as one of the best young strikers in the world in the process.
