Chelsea have brought back club legend Frank Lampard to the club and the record goalscorer is now The Blues new manager.

Lampard impressed in his debut year as a boss, guiding Derby County to the English Championship play-off final. His Rams side were attack-minded and it had plenty of young, hungry players.

The challenge for Frank has just gone onto a whole other scale in terms of size and in fairness the former England international will know that, having spent thirteen seasons as a player at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is a man who wants success and who also wants to see his team playing attractive football. That’s not an easy combination to marry together and there’s a long list of former Blues bosses out there that will confirm that.

A major blow is the fact that the club no longer have proven match winner Eden Hazard within their ranks to call upon.

New gaffer Lampard also doesn’t have the ability of going out and rebuildling his squad using Roman’s fortune in the transfer market, like so many of his predecessors due to th club’s two window transfer ban.

But that ban might actually help the new boss as money isn’t actually what’s needed at The Bridge, what Frank Lampard really needs is time.

Frank knows the club inside out and he has an assistant manager in Jody Morris who knows and, more importantly, believes in the Chelsea youth system.

Chelsea have terrific young players and send these talents on multiple loans but sadly they still rarely break into the first team squad regularly enough.

With the combination of Lampard and Morris taking over and the transfer ban being in place this season could be the right time to bed a few more youngsters into the team.

In the manager’s first week in charge he has tied down midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek  to a new long term deal and heaped praise (Chelsea website) on fellow Chelsea graduate Callum Hudson Odoi:

‘I have seen Callum come through and he is a fantastic talent,’

 ‘We all know that and I will speak to him and I want him to stay.’

These two early statements should be ringing through the academy and have the team’s younger players determined to prove they can mix it in the Premier League.

Time has to be given when it comes to bleeding these young players into the first team.

Patience also has to come into play when it comes to Lampard himself. The forty-one year old is still learning on the job and he will make mistakes, it’s key for him not to make too many of these mistakes and to learn from the ones that he does make.

The rookie gaffer needs to find a style, formation and a team to play within that style and formation. He needs a lot from the experienced players within the core of his group and he needs any youngster that gets his chance to try and hit the ground running.

As well as battling it out to try and compete in the league, Frank also has to make sure his pool is able to deal with the rigours that come with Champions League football. His own personal experience could be invaluable in that regard.

I’ll be interested in how Lampard sets-up his midfield. Quite a few time under previous boss Maurizio Sarri, Chelsea lost the midfield battle. The Italian would often play N’Golo Kante out of position and I’ve got a feeling that won’t happen as much this term. Due to his loan deal last season, The Blues have managed to bring in Mateo Kovacic on a permanent basis. I think Lampard could get a lot more out of the Croatian and the same goes for Loftus-Cheek.

I’m also intrigued to see if deep laying playmaker Jorginho gets to keep his starting place in the team and whether or not Ross Barkley can continue to progress.

I don’t think Chelsea supporters should expect a huge season. It could be a transitional one at Stamford Bridge but if that means more young players are coming through then it could be huge for the club in the long term!

Posted on July 8th, 2019 by scott
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