Chelsea: Premier League 2019-20 revisited – Frank Lampard revolution showing early promise ahead of Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner signings
As the Premier League season continues, we look at the Blues who are are primed to qualify for next season’s Champions League and are in the FA Cup quarter-finals
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Your support makes all the difference.It has been a peculiar season that has teased Chelsea fans throughout and provided thrills for neutrals along the way. But after establishing some real rhythm to their play before the league’s suspension, Frank Lampard looks primed to validate his credentials in his first season back at the Bridge. That said they have undoubtedly been helped by the inconsistency and, at times, ineptitude of their rivals. There have been some irresistible spells of form, while they have been able to pull off key results to snap poor runs.
Blending both attractive and appealing football has been born from the youthful fearlessness of this group who have earned a three-point cushion in fourth.
What may excite Chelsea fans most is what has seldom been seen at Stamford Bridge during the Roman Abramovich era: a loyalty to an entertaining brand of football, an element of patience behind the scenes and a commitment to providing young players with numerous opportunities to graduate from their prestigious academy.
The highlights have been Tammy Abraham, who has embraced the often cursed No 9 shirt, Mason Mount emerging as the embodiment of Lampard’s desire to press opponents from the front and Reece James continuing to prove himself to be a real force from right-back. There have been 12 academy products used in all this term, while a 13th, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, will emerge before the season’s belated conclusion.
What is less pleasing is how Chelsea have routinely failed to punish opponents despite carving out numerous chances, often in the first half or even half hour. There is also a growing reliance on Abraham, though Olivier Giroud showed encouraging signs just before the break, while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has successfully outwitted Lampard on three occasions.
Chelsea
2019-20
League position: 4th
Form: WDWLD
Next three fixtures: Aston Villa (A), Man City (H), West Ham (A)
FA Cup: Quarter-final away vs Leicester. Champions League: 0-3 on aggregate vs Bayern Munich ahead of second leg at Allianz Arena
Player of season so far: Mateo Kovacic
But considering the gaping hole left by Eden Hazard last summer and an inability to directly replace him in the transfer market, Lampard will be thoroughly content with the advantage over Manchester United in fifth, which may also provide Champions League football due to Manchester City’s Financial Fair Play misdemeanours. Recovering Abraham alongside the underrated presence of Christian Pulisic, who had shown flashes of brilliance in his debut campaign, will also provide him with belief that his youthful side can finish off what they started.
Lampard must still be careful not to underestimate what is now an alarming gap to Liverpool, though they did compete admirably in the two cup meetings against the champions-elect this season – including a 2-0 win to advance to the FA Cup quarter-finals. The gap in Europe is equally daunting though, as the first-leg annihilation at the hands of Bayern demonstrated. But the impending arrival of Hakim Ziyech and perhaps Timo Werner suggests this team is on the right course.
While technically still in Europe, Lampard will privately be content to escape with some dignity given Bayern’s ominous form already in the Bundesliga, while the contest with Leicester for a place in the FA Cup semi-finals will likely become an increasingly enticing goal once up to speed.
Looking beyond the final games of the season, there is also the intriguing element of Lampard’s first summer transfer window. Centre-midfield ought to be one of the most compelling areas of the team to observe throughout the remaining games.
Lampard has an abundance of riches in that department and some important decisions to make after witnessing the ease at which Billy Gilmour was able to smoothly adapt to first team football, impressing the likes of Paul Scholes and Roy Keane in the process. Jorginho may therefore become expendable, given the speculation linking him with a return to Italy with Juventus, while Loftus-Cheek will hope to convince Lampard he has a significant role to play next season.
And that’s all before considering the role and significant progress achieved by Mateo Kovacic, Chelsea’s player of the season to date and one of the league finest midfielders.
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