Chelsea survived the match against Leicester with a well earned point. That just shows how tough the club has made life for Frank Lampard.
When Leicester City won the title, they knew the second act would be tough. N’Golo Kante was lost almost immediately and they knew he would not be the last. They built a set up to spring board off that miracle run. It was not without its hiccups, but Leicester soaring (rightly or wrongly) in third this season is due to years of building off of that title win.
Chelsea does not know how to game things out that long term. Antonio Conte seemed like the man to lead Chelsea in a post Jose Mourinho crash of the life time world, but the board gave him the barest of bare necessities. For all the narrative that Maurizio Sarri came in with, it was the baggage that undid his era. And now Frank Lampard is the manager.
The reasonable knew that Lampard would have a tough task this season. Top four was a dream at the start of the season. The English manager has done fantastically to keep Chelsea above water. But the draw against Leicester only highlighted how tough the club is making life for the club legend.
Lampard’s early success this season, in the same vein as Mourinho’s 2014/2015 and Conte’s 2016/2017, only seems to have worked against him. The board, like they did with Lampard’s predecessors, seems to have looked at that success and thought it was a job well done. They did not look at it as something to build on like Leicester did in their post title days. And because nothing was built, it all has started to degrade.
That is not Lampard’s fault. He spent most of the window begging for signings. Of course, a warm body is not the solution but surely someone, somewhere, could have been found to improve the club. It seems as though the only reason to resolve the ban issue was to save a bit of face, not to inquire about players on the off chance they might move elsewhere as Chelsea sat idle.
This is not on the youth or the players either. Lampard is picking the players he can trust. The players who are fit. The fact that the initial squad of 25 has been whittled down, mostly fairly, to about 14 is less on Lampard and more on the board not filling in the gaps.
Again, this is not about just signing for signings’ sake. Maybe there truly was no one worth going for in January. But nothing about Lampard’s demeanor right now, or the squad’s play, hints at a team that will be supported in the summer. It feels too business as usual from the top down and it feels like enough will be seen as enough and not something to grow into more.
Top four is still very doable, but much like last season it will be because of the rivals for it falling apart. Leicester may fall off but as it stands they have a comfortable eight point cushion. Sheffield United is the team closest to challenging Chelsea for fourth and they have a five point gap to close to do that. Manchester United is as much of a stop start show as Chelsea feels. Wolves, Tottenham, and Everton could all surge up but it seems unlikely they will rise much further. Arsenal feels too far off to even think about at the moment.
Chelsea could, and most likely will, make top four this season. But it could have been so much more comfortable. And if the board does not do something truly spectacular this summer, top four should very much be an open ended question next season.
Lampard is stretching this squad out as far as he can. He needs the board to stop making life tough for him. If the board wants the project to work, they need to help, not hinder, their manager like they have so many times in the past.
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