Frank Lampard is set to become the Chelsea manager at any moment (if he is not already). He will bring meritocracy to Stamford Bridge.
It is not new or unusual for managers to have preferences beyond “this player is better than that player” or “this player did best in training so he plays”. In fact, it is much more common for managers to rely on experience or familiarity than merit.
This has been seen often in recent Chelsea seasons. Jose Mourinho would hold “academy days” when possible, but almost always relied on the same players for the same situations. Antonio Conte experimented early and used the cups for rotation, but basically stuck to the same core of players. And Maurizio Sarri’s line up choices were as simple to predict as the sun coming up.
Frank Lampard is surely next in line but his time at Derby showcased something different than his Chelsea predecessors: meritocracy. Lampard gave no players minutes if they had not earned them and it paid off in ways both seen and unseen on the pitch. He will bring that to Chelsea as well.
Lampard cared little for age or experience. He always chose his lineups purely with the best player for the situation in mind. If a player had slacked off in training or was in bad form, they were dropped. If a player kept giving there all, they started. Age was a nonfactor.
It did not go unnoticed by players from other teams. Tammy Abraham helped Aston Villa get promoted over Derby County, but he saw what Lampard was doing. Abraham has said that he would believe in himself under Lampard and that is a powerful thing.
Take Callum Hudson-Odoi for instance. Last preseason, he was by and far the best player. No one else came close. He was rewarded with a start in the Community Shield and then saw few starts for the remainder of the calendar year. The Europa League could have been a proving ground for the younger, deserving players, but Sarri opted for experience for as long as he could.
Hudson-Odoi got his first international start before he got a Premier League start. That may not matter to some, but it will have mattered to Hudson-Odoi and all the academy players watching on. Many will have thought if Hudson-Odoi cannot be given a chance, then what chance do they have?
Sarri was not wrong to trust experience necessarily, but there is a line between placating the older players and playing the players who have earned their chances. Given the improved atmosphere at Derby County under Lampard compared to other seasons, it seems that meritocracy worked and it rose the entire squad as a result.
Lampard needs to continue that at Chelsea. It is not about playing someone young because they are young but playing them because they deserve the chance. How many times in the previous season did fans cry for Emerson over Marcos Alonso or Olivier Giroud over Alvaro Morata or Gonzalo Higuain? Or Hudson-Odoi over out of form wingers? Ruben Loftus-Cheek over Mateo Kovacic or Ross Barkley?
The answer is often. And where those changes were not made in previous seasons, they are likely to be made now. Lampard will give no handouts to anyone. The best players with the right attitudes will play. Spots will now need to be earned rather than given.