Chelsea: The summer is a time of transition for the Blues

After a successful first season under second-year Blues manager Frank Lampard, Chelsea is preparing for an exciting future.

The new Premier League season is set to start in less than a month and Chelsea’s squad will return on Friday to begin preparations for its second season under Frank Lampard. Last year was a one of highs and lows for the Blues; nevertheless, most fans will pretty content with how it ended. Many supporters would have accepted a top four finish at the beginning of the campaign, especially considering the situation. Star player Eden Hazard left for Real Madrid, manager Maurizio Sarri left for Juventus and was replaced by second-year gaffer Frank Lampard. In addition, the Blues also had a transfer ban that they were facing.

Despite being arguably the greatest player in the history of Chelsea Football Club, Lampard’s sole year of experience in this role was with Derby in the Championship, so critics were justified when voicing their concerns. Looking back, there are many positives from the last 12 months and even more things to look forward to.

Many academy graduates were promoted to the first team last year, with most of them delivering a positive impact. On the other hand, the lack of killer instinct in few matches—and altogether disappointing defending—cost the Blues many points throughout the year. However, as the squad matures, these issues will be hammered out. The same can be said about the use of the squad effectively.

It took Lampard until January to trust Olivier Giroud to lead the line and had he made the move to Italy, Chelsea may not have finished inside the top four. Pedro was never trusted much by Lampard even though he had a good run just before the COVID-19 break. He was soon forgotten once the season restarted and could have provided assistance.

The Premier League allowed five substitutes per game for the restart since the matches were coming thick and fast. Yet, Lampard didn’t make use of that option much and it resulted in injuries to key players like Cesar Azpilicueta, Christian Pulisic and Willian towards the end of the year.

Switching gears, the addition of Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech will undoubtedly improve the Chelsea attack for the upcoming season after losing Willian and Pedro on contract expiry. However, the area of concern for the Blues that requires changes is the back line. The defense put up one of the most mediocre defensive records among teams qualified for the Champions League across Europe and it’s safe to say, that won’t get Chelsea very far. In addition to the defense, goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga had a season to forget, as well.

The rumor mill suggests Chelsea is looking at many players around Europe. Jan Oblak, Andre Onana, Ben Chilwell and Lewis Dunk are few of the exciting names currently linked with the Blues and needless to say, having Lampard at the helm has played a huge role in player recruiting. This is represented perfectly by the signings of both Werner and Ziyech.

Football is an unpredictable game—especially for Chelsea—where anything can happen at any given moment; there is no guarantee Lampard will be in charge for the foreseeable future (although it’s a safe bet). The critical thing in terms of recruitment must be that the players should be skillful and able to perform in numerous different systems. Players specializing in one or two roles will have hard a time under a new system. It will also be challenging to move them out, as well, as currently shown by Jorginho.

Neither Werner nor Ziyech is a system players, which is an encouraging sign to start. The players linked with Chelsea are also not known to play in just one or two styles, also a reason for excitement. Even though it is extremely premature to predict Lampard’s side mounting a title charge, things are looking up for the west London club at the moment.