Chelsea: David Luiz will have a great influence on Frank Lampard’s season

David Luiz’s public (and private) support of Frank Lampard will be the key barometer of Chelsea FC’s success this season. Nate Hofmann lays out the different ways this relationship could go.

Chelsea’s hiring of Frank Lampard is hardly unique in the world of football. This is just the most recent example of the classic “former player returns as manager” trope. While it’s perhaps more prevalent at clubs who lack the financial means to bring in a manager from elsewhere, the biggest clubs in the world have had their fair share of favored sons return to their old stomping grounds. At the moment, both Manchester United and Real Madrid fall into this category, with varying degrees of success.

It’s a risky proposition. For every Pep Guardiola, there are a dozen Clarence Seedorf’s.

Chelsea themselves have been known to dip a toe into these murky waters from time to time. In the 90’s, Chelsea employed Glenn Hoddle, Ruud Gullit and Gianluca Vialli in quick succession, each of whom even served a stint as player-manager.

However, since Roman Abramovich’s takeover in 2003, only one former player has taken to the technical area: Roberto Di Matteo. Any Chelsea fan worth their salt will know the importance of Di Matteo’s short but glorious tenure, namely that fateful night in Munich.

The 2012 Champions League final has made a sudden return to relevance with the appointment of Frank Lampard. With John Terry suspended for the match, Frank Lampard donned the captain’s armband, while David Luiz anchored the defense alongside Gary Cahill.

Seven years later, Lampard has become the head coach and Luiz is the only player from that 18 man squad who is still at the club (ignoring his stint at Paris Saint-Germain).

Having fought together as teammates to bring Chelsea its greatest-ever success, the transition to a player-manager power dynamic may be a bit awkward.

The evolution of that relationship could have a large effect on the upcoming season.

Along with Cesar Azpilicueta, Luiz is one of the senior leaders in the dressing room. He has often served as a mouthpiece for the players in recent years.

Luiz seemed to be the biggest proponent of Maurizio Sarri last season, even when much of the media narrative revolved around the squad’s collective frustration with Sarri’s style. His words of positivity helped keep the situation at the club stable enough to eventually earn the Europa League trophy.

Azpilicueta wears the armband (rightfully so), but David Luiz is the current heart and soul of Chelsea.

At the moment, the Lampard era is still in its honeymoon phase, and the players and coaching staff are one big happy family. Unfortunately, adversity will inevitably hit the club – probably sooner rather than later – and that unity will be tested. If a schism starts to grow between the coaches and players, Luiz could be stuck on a tightrope between the two.

Let’s say the relationship between Luiz and Lampard becomes frayed, perfectly understandable when one person suddenly controls the professional life of the other. Luiz drifting away from Lampard and towards the players in the dressing room would bring about the classic reports of a mutiny.

Chelsea certainly have a history of player power pushing a manager out the door, ironically sometimes headed by Lampard himself.

With a respected veteran like Luiz leading the charge, it’s easy to imagine Lampard being run out of town. It’s a dark timeline, but an all-too-possible one. This would likely manifest itself as bored, conservative play from Luiz and quotes that are centered around how the team is banding together to overcome struggles.

But what if the Luiz – Lampard relationship becomes even stronger? Suddenly being reunited with the teammate who led you to Champions League glory is a powerful drug (I assume), and it’s plausible that Luiz chooses to ride or die with Lampard.

If the coaches and players start quarreling and Luiz chooses to side with the management, you suddenly have warring factions within the squad in addition to the likely end of the Lampard Era.

Welcome to the darkest timeline. Look for teammates giving each other the hairdryer treatment on the pitch, and Luiz praising the gameplan but deriding the squad’s execution after poor results.

These are dramatic what-ifs, of course, but they show two ends of a spectrum.

David Luiz has been a steady positive influence at the club, even if he’s occasionally a liability in defense. He’s the last remaining player who was there for the greatest moment in the club’s history, and his passion for Chelsea is undeniable. With Lampard’s return to the club, there is now another respected figure who can recount what it takes to win at the absolute highest level.

Luiz has great friendships with many players in the squad, but earning that Champions League medal together with Lampard is perhaps more meaningful for the success of these early days of Lampard’s tenure. How Luiz decides to balance and prioritize these allegiances will go a long way towards shaping the near future of the club.

In a season that will likely be underwhelming in terms of the results on the pitch, it will be the behind-the-scenes developments that spell real success or failure this year. While the general fanbase will never truly know what’s going on in the boardroom and on the training grounds, you can get a sense of the state of things if you look in the right places.

This season, David Luiz’s words, body language and actual play will be the greatest indicators of how the Frank Lampard era is truly going at Chelsea.