Frank Lampard has steadily trimmed his Chelsea side down to a trusted group. The trimming is done and now it is time to build on to it.
Before leaving Derby County, Frank Lampard spoke about needing to have a larger squad to not only compete in every competition but for the full season as well. Whether or not he would have gotten that at Derby will remain a question as he moved over to Chelsea.
Lampard started the season with a large squad. Of the initial 25 man rosters, really Jamie Cumming could have been considered on the outside looking in. Marco van Ginkel and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have been out injured so they too can be discounted (for now). But steadily throughout the season, Lampard has trimmed away players that he cannot trust in his system. He gave them all a chance, but he has not changed his mind on a few of them.
That 22-25 man group has been brought down to 14, maybe 15 or 16, players that Lampard can trust with starts in the Premier League. From this foundation, the club can start adding on in the market to bring the team up to the image Lampard has for it.
If Chelsea can have a full match day 18 that Lampard trusts then the club will be in a good spot going forward. It is possible to go beyond that, but anything outside the 18 can be some of the more promising and trusted youth doing double duty with the first team and academy.
As it stands, Lampard trusts Kepa Arrizabalaga, Antonio Rudiger, Cesar Azpilicueta, Kurt Zouma, Reece James, Fikayo Tomori, Jorginho, N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Mason Mount, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Willian, Christian Pulisic, and Tammy Abraham. Emerson and Marcos Alonso have flirted with his trust almost as much as they have lost it.
Of the players fit (and leaving Cumming aside for now), that leaves Willy Caballero, Andreas Christensen, Ross Barkley, Pedro, Olivier Giroud, and Michy Batshuayi on the outs. It is no coincidence that many of those players have been linked to transfers or loans away in January.
If Chelsea’s “base” formation is a 4-3-3, the Blues are more or less three players away from the 18 players Lampard can trust (Caballero can be included because of the uniqueness of keepers). Depending on Alonso or Emerson’s eventual fates, one of those spots is a fullback. Another is a creative attacking midfielder or winger. The last spot would be a player capable of playing striker or at least helping Abraham with the goal scoring load.
By that framework, the rumored targets make a lot of sense. Nathan Ake can play fullback but can also play center back and in midfield. Outside of that, Chelsea has been linked to wingers that create and score often such as Jadon Sancho or Leon Bailey. The final group to be linked is the goal scorers like Wilfried Zaha or Timo Werner. Both can, importantly, play as strikers but also as wingers. They can both supplement and rotate with Abraham.
Mind, it would be a big ask for Chelsea to bring in three, ready made and trustworthy players in January. In fact, the Blues are better off waiting for the right targets rather than just buying anyone available at the moment.
But if Chelsea was able to bring the number of trusted players up to a full 18, not only would there be more rotation but there would be better competition within the squad. The current level of 14 players has proven very unsustainable throughout December and it is not a case of Lampard merely not rotating; he has to trust the players he has available and right now that number is just low.
The current midfield and center back rotations are the clearest sign of this being something Lampard would do. Kante, Kovacic, Jorginho, and Mount are all playing in equal measure through rotations. With Rudiger’s return, the same is happening between him, Zouma, and Tomori.
If Chelsea got just three more players that Lampard could trust, the same could be true throughout the pitch. That is the level of quality the top tier clubs have and Chelsea used to have. The Blues must find it again.
Lampard has trimmed the 25 down to 14 or so that he can continue with. Now it is up to Marina Granovskaia and Petr Cech to fill in the remaining holes. Chelsea may not be busy this window, but they need to be active in the market this calendar year to bring Chelsea back to the top of the pile with a full, strong, and trusted matchday 18.