Who knows what tomorrow will bring? Simply getting through today without looking a fool will require some out-of-the-box thinking about what Chelsea have accomplished this season.
Chelsea have had a rocky campaign under Frank Lampard. Between injuries, bad performances from key players and a bunch of kids trying to step up and be the next generation of big players, the Blues are still in a Champions League spot. And let’s be honest, who wants a bright future, when the club can just buy eleven mediocre players to be midtable? Here are three reasons why this such a bad season for the club and the fans alike.
1. What’s the deal with this manager?
Frank Lampard is doing too much with too little. How dare he overachieve? Doesn’t he know what this club does to managers who overachieve in their first season? Does he even want a second, third or fourth? At this rate, he may not even finish his first.
While most clubs are fighting to acquire the services of any manager with a decent track record to barely stay afloat, Chelsea hired an unexperienced Frank Lampard.
Sure, Super Frank is Chelsea’s highest ever goal scorer, has won absolutely everything with the club and is respected across the world as one of the best midfielders ever.
But this type of romanticism is unneeded at Chelsea, as the club requires a manager with a winner’s mentality; someone who knows the Premier League better than anyone else; a hardworking individual that has created talent out of dedication. More importantly, someone who knows that change is the only solution to winning trophies.
Frank Lampard is still trying to fine tune his team, which means teaching new strategies as he learns how to implement them. This type of long-term development is atrocious for the team and has no place in the club.
It is also important to note that it was Frank Lampard who took on the challenge of no new additions to the team. Instead, he spent his days developing young players that the public has been eyeing for a while, particularly Callum Hudson-Odoi, who might have signed for Bayern Munich if not for Lampard. I mean, what a loser this Lampard is, convincing a fantastic winger who has risen through club’s ranks and has all of the potential to become even better than Eden Hazard.
Last, Lampard has managed to promote even more academy players because of injuries to “senior” players or for simple rotation. He irresponsibly allowed them to showcase their abilities and potential.
Meanwhile, Lampard has made sure to use them at the right time with specific instructions to prioritize the success of the team along with their individual progress. It really does not get any worse than Frank Lampard as manager in a transitional season with no new signings.
2. Too much youth
Who wants a hungry, energetic and adaptable young squad, when the club can have old and busted individuals?
Chelsea have always had the self-inflicted problem of signing mediocre players, while producing incredible talents in the academy. This was a complaint from the public for many years. Managers, because of the hyperactive revolving door policy of the club, were afraid of implementing young players.
Now, however, they are all playing regular football, scoring goals, making their mark and looking like future stars. That is not a proper challenge for Chelsea. The club should have used the January transfer window to buy some almost-in-his-30s, already injured, overpriced player to spice things up.
It’s not like Chelsea want to be known as the biggest superpower in football in a few years, with most of their players coming from the academy.
A few examples of this overwhelming spread of youth are Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount, Reece James, Fikayo Tomori and Billy Gilmour, who have all impressed and overachieved in their performances. They’ve scored goals, dominated games against better opponents and shined in the Champions League. This all sounds great when one thinks about the future, but who needs to do that, when there are more seasoned, less productive and more costly players that can be part of the squad and destroy the current fabric of the club.
It is obviously beneficial to loan these young players again and let other English teams get ahead of Chelsea in the short and long term.
3. Chelsea’s football is looking good
Chelsea’s football is looking good… Too good. The dynamics between the players is fluid and cohesive. They have great understanding of their positioning and specific roles on the field. They use different strategies to break down different opponents and are scoring all types of goals.
And to think we had short, side-to-side, monotonous passing that depended on a single player’s ability to pass to the player in front of him rather than finding the best possible pass. Or, before that, the Blues only played counter-attacking football that made some players unhappy.
Chelsea are risking everything they learned in the past two seasons by being expansive in the buildup, with free-flowing passes; explosive in the counterattack by utilizing each player’s unique abilities; and competitive when it comes to fighting for silverware or playing in important games.
This season Chelsea have been enjoyable, dare I say exciting. What a disaster that is for everyone watching.
Chelsea has too much talent in their hands and too much room for development. With every game, players are improving and showing they will become the new Blue Army, capable of winning every trophy available in England and Europe.
Meanwhile, we fans are forced to watch them become better every game, as their manager, a legend of the club, bestows his legacy into them.
Let’s hope for better things soon, starting first thing tomorrow, because this is surely Chelsea’s darkest season ever.