Chelsea: 3 pairs of outcasts who could be saviours against Spurs and Bayern
By Varun Dani
Injuries, inconsistency, a turbulent home record and controversial refereeing have set a pessimistic narrative for two of the most important games of Chelsea’s campaign. Which Blues can team up to halt this fall?
Controversial officiating ran interference, but Chelsea’s showing in the loss to Manchester United made one thing abundantly clear: the players lose concentration at the most crucial times while defending and attacking.
That, of course, is no different than what has happened for much of the last two months. There is no evidence to suggest things will be any different when the Blues face off against Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich in the next five days. With Callum Hudson-Odoi, Tammy Abraham, Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, N’Golo Kante, Emerson and (potentially) Andreas Christensen watching from the stands, who could work together reverse this dark tide?
1. Olivier Giroud and Mason Mount: Real striker, real support
Michy Batshuayi is done at Chelsea. The pundits know. The fans know it. The Belgian knows it. Frank Lampard knows it, and now it’s time for him to show it.
Lampard might not have got the striker he wanted in January, but there’s no point to cry over spilt transfers. He needs to make do with what he has. And what he has is a World Cup winner, a proven Premier League striker, a world-class target man: Olivier Giroud.
The Frenchman might not suit his style of play, but Lampard needs to tweak his game plan for his veteran striker because every Rom, Dick and Terry knows that this situation calls for it. The best of Giroud is bombarding the net with headers, scoring scorpion-kick goals and getting the best out of his fellow attackers.
Mason Mount experienced that first hand, as he relished the opportunity to play as a real target man for the first time this season on Sunday.
Until that point, Mount’s position has deprived him of any time or space, which has translated into bad performances. But that’s the beauty of playing with Giroud: he creates extra space and time for the attackers around him.
Giroud makes himself the ultimate supporting act, prioritizing his link-up play to get his teammates into goal-scoring positions. Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann reaped the benefits of it at the grandest stage of all, and Mason Mount can enjoy the same at the most vital stage of his career.
When the Frenchman is at his best, everyone around him his at their best.
Olivier Giroud is in the swansong of his Chelsea and Premier League career, much like old-man Logan, ready for his last act. Lampard can either let him rot away on some abandoned bench or pave the way for his football Laura, Mason Mount.