'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
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.
