Frank Lampard is seeking to build a bridge over the gulf between Chelsea first team and Chelsea academy. The barriers to entry are coming down for the kids.
In the old days, young players like John Terry would have warm toilet seats (not a joke) and clean boots. The first team was on one level, and the youth on another.
But that type of hierarchy only works if there is a genuine chance and belief in moving up. So few crossed the line from academy to first team that it ceased being a line and became a barrier.
One of Frank Lampard’s first changes will be to build a bridge over the gulf. For the first time since Andre Villas Boas split the setup (an article in of itself), the academy and first team training set up will be fused. The youth will be able to eat, train, and interact with the first team in ways previously foreign to them. For an academy that had several players considering leaving because they saw no opportunity (and had several players leave for that reason), that is a vital change.
Allowing the academy and the first team to share a gym and meals are just some of the changes Lampard is making. He is also bringing Jody Morris with him from Derby County and promoting Joe Edwards to the first team coaching staff. With those two, Lampard will have two of the greatest youth coaches Chelsea has ever had on either side of him. This would be another vital change that turns the ponds of first team and academy into a river, one flowing into the other.
Lampard is also set to instruct the youth coaches to move around training so he can watch them. Lampard is going all in on making everyone feel like they are part of Chelsea. It is something that has not been seen for years and it is something Morris has often taken to Twitter to criticize since leaving.
This could also create a push from the other side. If the first team no longer sees the academy as a separate and distant entity, they may be more inclined to support the academy players when they do enter the first team. It will no longer be “who is this kid?” but “that kid was training harder than any of us in the gym and deserves his chance.”
There is a chance that this blows up as well though. Players may get a sense of “making it” before actually making it simply because they have breakfast with the superstars. Complacency could be an issue and it was likely what Villas Boas was trying to combat when he split the set up. But is the risk of complacency any worse than the apathy many have now? No.
Lampard is signifying that he is not coming in to be a steady hand or go back to the “old guard”. He is leading from the front as he tries to find better solutions to complex problems. He wants Chelsea to be one family from top to bottom rather than us or them. If this is the type of decision he starts with, there will be much excitement to see where he goes next.