Chelsea: Frank Lampard bringing Ross Barkley to his best creative level

Ross Barkley put himself back into contention for Chelsea’s starting XI with a usefully cautious approach to last season. In this preseason he is back to his creative best, reminding fans why he was a transfer target for years before becoming a Blue.

Ross Barkley has had a hard time nailing down a first team spot since his move to Chelsea from Everton in January 2018. Once touted as the next great hope of the English national team, Barkley’s career went off the tracks at Goodison Park before securing a move to Stamford Bridge for a meager £15 million.

At the time, Barkley was seen as more of a solid bargain buy instead of the blockbuster signing he would have been back when he was one of the hottest prospects in the Premier League. Considering Chelsea had been linked with a £50 million move for the midfielder back in 2015, it is a bit startling to see how far his value had plummeted since then.

Under Antonio Conte, Barkley made only four appearances despite Conte describing him as a “complete player” at the time of his signing. After fading out at Everton, Barkley’s Chelsea career was also headed for failure.

But the appointment of Maurizio Sarri the following season would throw the English midfielder a lifeline.

Barkley slowly resurrected his career under Sarri in the 2018/19 season. He made 48 appearances for Chelsea last season, scoring five goals and assisting six more in the process. Though by the end of the season he had fallen behind Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Mateo Kovacic in the Blues’ midfield pecking order, he was an important part of the squad throughout the season.

A repeat of the 2017/18 season could have been catastrophic for Barkley’s career and might have landed him at a midtable club on loan or a similarly low fee. Instead, Barkley managed to have a decent season under Sarri and played his way back into Gareth Southgate’s plans for the England national team.

But given how much Barkley’s re-emergence seemed to depend on Sarri, it looked like Barkley’s career had taken another unfortunate turn after Sarri departed for Juventus after winning the Europa League.

Barkley has put to rest any such concerns. He looks like a man reborn this preseason, free from the shackles of Sarri’s slow and systematic style of football.

Last season Barkley often looked content simply to not make any mistakes instead of looking to make things happen. His risk aversion worked in the context of Sarri’s system and what Sarri wanted from his players. But Barkley traded at the cost of the adventure in his game that had made him one of the most exciting attacking midfielders in world football during his early years at Everton.

Lampard has put that adventure back into the Englishman’s game by deploying him as the No. 10 in his 4-2-3-1 formation. This change in position has unleashed Barkley, restoring his world-class playmaking ability under his new manager.

He played two brilliant throughballs to Kenedy against Kawasaki Frontale, both of which the Brazilian should have finished. Against FC Barcelona he picked up right where he had left off with a brilliant ball over the top of the Catalan defence, again wasted by Kenedy. The sensational goal against the Spanish giants was just the cherry on the cake of what was already a dazzling performance.

While Mason Mount has also looked in great touch, Barkley’s performances have been at a different level this preseason. It will be interesting to see who Lampard picks as his first choice playmaker when the Blues visit Manchester United in their opening game of the Premier League season.

Perhaps Barkley wearing the gaffer’s legendary No. 8 shirt (for now, at least) might just help him out.