Chelsea are winning pragmatically without giving up the fun on the pitch

Chelsea’s undeserved defeat at home to Liverpool back in September has been the catalyst for a run of six straight wins. Frank Lampard has done the one thing his predecessor, Maurizio Sarri, promised to do but failed the deliver: Chelsea are once again fun to watch.

To be fair to Maurizio Sarri, he would never have had the ability to do what Lampard is currently doing at Stamford Bridge. Sarri, like most managers, is old-school: buy the talent that fits your own modus operandi and stick to the system. In fact, Chelsea themselves sit nicely amongst that company.

At least they did. An outlandish set of circumstances has installed a plethora of former club talent at the very pinnacle of the club’s structure.

Those players from Chelsea’s past are utilising the talent that they themselves have lovingly nurtured and it’s paying dividends in very short order. Not only are “the kids” shining but the more experienced pro’s many wrote off are also excelling. Lampard is building for the future whilst reaping rewards in the present.

The Premier League and Champions League are steep learning curves for anyone. But as the season progresses Lampard is certainly getting to grips with them.

Of course, that was never really in doubt given his background at his club. He’s no stranger to either competition and it was difficult to imagine him being a failure.

The season is still young but lessons are being learnt. Chelsea started the season conceding goals. That 4-0 defeat up at Old Trafford on the first day of the season seems a long way off now. Lampard has rotated players and tweaked the formation when needed, and the last two games have seen the team deliver the most difficult of results.

One-goal wins without conceding at the other end are the results of champions. The ability to eke out a win when a team stoically looks to defend as Newcastle did at the weekend is how league titles get delivered. To go to the home of one of last year’s Champions League semifinalists and do the same against the odds is equally impressive.

Chelsea sit fourth in the Premier League and are top of their Champions League group. We know there are plenty of goals in the squad: five goals at Wolves, four at Southampton and seven at home to Grimsby attest to that. But 1-0 wins are where it’s at in terms of success.

Those last two victories will have given Frank Lampard more satisfaction than any of those edgy goal-fests that went before.

Chelsea could have scored more in either of those wins. They were far from boring, park-the-bus football. However, plenty of league titles have come that way… see boring Arsenal under George Graham’s management. Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea also had the odd moment of mundanity.

That won’t be happening with this set of players, though. Those that are leading them won’t allow it. Frank Lampard’s football style is non-formulaic and it’s based around the impetuosity of youth.

The two go hand-in-hand. The future for Chelsea’s young guns is not only looking good – no, very good – it’s looking like it’ll be fun.