Chelsea’s eight days after the break will frame a season’s worth of decisions

Chelsea have eight days left on their winter break before three games in eight days that will shape the verdict on a season’s worth of decisions

Frank Lampard was disappointed that Chelsea did not sign anybody during the winter transfer period. Rightly so, perhaps. However, there were very few options available to the club’s transfer gurus. January is seldom the time to make reasoned, financially astute decisions on players that may or may not actually be available.

The same names were mooted throughout the window. Edinson Cavani, Dries Mertens, Jadon Sancho and Moussa Dembele, Wilfried Zaha and Ben Chilwell… none were ever likely to join. Likewise, many names seemed destined to depart. Marcos Alonso, Pedro, Willian, Ross Barkley and, of course, Olivier Giroud. None did. No ins, no outs.

The January transfer window was once again a non-event. It would appear to exist simply to ramp up the football talk during the depths of winter. An antidote to the post-Christmas blues.

No one was really to blame for Chelsea’s failings to deliver new blood to Lampard’s starting XI – circumstances just dictated a tough time for those trying. The only real winners were the TV companies and media outlets that drip-fed the tittle-tattle to the masses who absolutely lapped it up.

Off the back of the window closing comes the first-ever Premier League winter break. The players have a chance to recharge their batteries ahead of the final push for glory or nothingness.

Once the squad returns to Cobham, they’ll be putting into place plans that will, potentially, make or break the outcome of Lampard’s first season in charge.

Chelsea’s season may twist and turn on the next three crucial fixtures. The games all take place at Stamford Bridge – not so much a fortress, more a place where two teams rock-up for a game of football. The pressure will be on.

The good news for Blues fans is, although some may not appreciate it, those three games are against top notch opposition. Whilst it’s easy to look at that in the negative, modern Chelsea history tells us the bigger they are, the harder they’ll find it to leave with a result. That said, whether that truly applies this season is highly debatable, as home form against the so-called “big six” has not been great under Lampard.

First up, next Monday evening, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer brings his Manchester United side to west London. The game is a classic six pointer in the push for a top four finish. As former players with their respective clubs, both managers will be keen to exert pain on the other. The reverse fixture, the first of Lampard’s reign as a Premier League manager, ended in a somewhat anticlimactic 4-0 defeat. Chelsea will want to avenge that loss.

Being the final game of the weekend, it makes sense that at lunchtime on the following Saturday Chelsea are forced to take on Tottenham Hotspur to satisfy the TV schedules.

This time around, it will be the opponent looking for revenge. Just six weeks ago, two goals from the Tottenham hater, Willian, gave Chelsea victory in what could have been considered an upset as far as this season is concerned. Jose Mourinho will want his day in the spotlight.

Perhaps the biggest seeker of retribution, though, will come in the form of Bayern Munich when they head over to SW6 just three days later.

The last time these two met when it really mattered was in Bayern’s home, the Allianz Arena. They’ll still be hurting from the pain inflicted upon them in the 2012 Champions League final when Didier Drogba calmly stroked home that winning penalty. Personnel have changed from that glorious May day, but the supporters won’t have forgotten. They’ll want their day in the sun.

Three tough games, undoubtedly, but winnable nonetheless. Chelsea have a habit of pulling a rabbit out of the hat on these occasions, so write them off at your peril.