Chelsea starting XI: Lampard’s meritocracy hitting home for Kepa and Giroud
By George Perry
Frank Lampard is keeping Kepa Arrizabalaga on the bench and Olivier Giroud on the pitch to face Bayern Munich. Chelsea will have the same XI and presumably the same formation they used to defeat Tottenham.
Frank Lampard may have finally landed on his best XI, and all he had to do was drop a club-record signing, bring a veteran in from the cold and raise the average age of the squad a few years. With no new players going in or out of the injury room after Saturday’s win against Tottenham, Chelsea have the same squad, the same lineup and most likely the same 3-4-3 to face Bayern Munich.
The defensive structure is least surprising. Whatever quibbles one might have about any individual centreback, Chelsea will need all three plus the two wing-backs to shut down service and shooting lanes for Robert Lewandowski. The biggest tactical question will be if Cesar Azpilicueta will move into midfield while on offence as he did against Tottenham, or if he will stay closer to the defensive line to protect against counter-attacks and to ensure he is in place for the second stage of any Bayern attack.
If Azpilicueta moves closer to Reece James and Ross Barkley as he did on Saturday, he may be in a better position to impede any outlet through Alphonso Davies on Chelsea’s right.
On the other hand, if the ball or play gets by Azpilicueta, he will not be able to catch up to Davies, and neither will Reece James if James is coming from an advanced wing-back position. That would leave Chelsea with only two centrebacks and no true defensive midfielder to defend a counterattack, which is sub-ideal, at best.
Frank Lampard has not shown any tendencies to adapt his overall strategy for the opponent. He may shift players and formation, but the Blues have yet to defend deep and attempt to control the game out of possession. Particularly with Olivier Giroud maintaining his place in the starting XI, there is little reason to think the Blues will not aim to press and contain Bayern Munich in the final third, come what may at the back.
Lampard is also continuing to show that his meritocracy applies across the pitch, starting at goalkeeper.
Willy Caballero gave the manager no reason to drop him after Saturday, when he made several important saves and controlled his box well before being the victim of an own goal. Just because this is Europe’s premier competition doesn’t mean the club record signing is entitled to anything.
Kepa Arrizabalaga is a £72 million one-of-the-boys, who must fight is way into the squad just as Olivier Giroud did, Ross Barkley and Willy Caballero apparently did, and Billy Gilmour is trying to do.
dark. Next. Predictions vs. Bayern: Do the Blues really have a chance?