Chelsea: Lampard sorting out the realities of the post-Eden Hazard Blues

For the second home game in a row, Chelsea were undone in the Premier League by a team from the south coast. Having done a job on Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham last weekend it was disappointing to lose so easily against Southampton.

There was a time when Stamford Bridge was a fortress, but that feels like a long time ago. The transfer ban hurt Frank Lampard at the start of his reign as Chelsea manager. The fact that the club’s one true world-class player left for Real Madrid before his arrival made his job twice as difficult.

Still, Chelsea sit in fourth place in the league despite some very poor home form. That is a credit to the team, but those results won’t be sustainable over the course of a season. Time and again over the previous two seasons Eden Hazard was on hand to bail out a poor team performance. Without that luxury, Lampard has become reliant on the kids.

Chelsea appear to perform much better when teams open up and attack, which is why the away results have been so much better. This failure to break down teams that sit back and play on the break is frustrating, to say the least, and it needs sorting out quickly.

With just five days before the January transfer window opens, Lampard will be hoping the back room transfer team will deliver a couple of decent signings. Whilst speculation is rife, no one really knows what plans are being formulated in the boardroom.

This season has been hard to gauge in terms of what new blood Chelsea actually need. For sure, a left and right back would help firm up a flaky defence. All successful teams are strong defensively. However, sometimes attack is the best form of defence, and against a certain type of team Chelsea attack’s simply isn’t good enough.

Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount have been tremendous this season under difficult circumstances. Like Lampard, they are new to the league in their respective roles and that transition period was always to be expected. There can be no question of not supporting them, but they do need some help.

The problem, as is always the case in January, will be finding players suitable and at the right price that their current clubs are willing to let go.

Of course, that’s a near impossible task. Buying the right player will require overpaying for the right player. January is essentially a seller’s market, but if the right players are there, the premium is worth paying.

Whilst Eden Hazard is no longer with the club he could be a supporter in the truest sense of the word when the money collected through his transfer is spent over the next month. We have to wait and see how that affects the second half of the season.

Despite having fewer points than a year ago, the mood remains buoyant. Frank Lampard still has credits in the bank from his playing days and the Tottenham victory as he looks to build a dynasty at the club he calls his own.