Chelsea’s draw with Sevilla in the opening game of the 2020/21 Champions League campaign showed the evolution of Frank Lampard.
While a very fickle few may have cried “bore draw,” there should be little doubt that Chelsea’s clean sheet against Sevilla in Tuesday night’s Champions League clash was a breath of fresh air. It was also the ideal response from boss Frank Lampard following the shellacking stalemate against Southampton at the weekend.
Sure, it wasn’t a win, and you may say that three points against such stellar opposition would’ve been the truly “ideal” response, but in many ways, the clean sheet was more important than the victory on Tuesday. To put it bluntly, that’s because it showed that the Blues don’t need to score at least three goals to be assured of a point.
The mishandling of several games against middling opposition so far this season has led to some critiques of Lampard, some fair, some foolish, as well as some trenchant disavowing of said criticism. Indeed, as I said in an article on the eve of Tuesday’s game, it’s okay to question the gaffer, as long as you’re prepared to listen to the response.
In this case, it was fairly resounding. Up against one of the premier teams in Europe – and that’s a bonafide fact, Julen Lopetegui has built a formidable force in Andalusia – Chelsea showed a resolve hitherto unseen under Lampard. The team was unusually compact, up against one of the leading lights in Europe when it comes to defensive density. But Tuesday night showed that, when he puts his mind to it, Lampard can mirror such solidity.
Kurt Zouma put Saturday’s calamity behind him to put in an assured performance, with Thiago Silva’s soothing tones an undoubted help next to him. Perhaps it was also the presence of Edouard Mendy behind him for just the second time, because, for the second time, the Senegalese international’s installation between the sticks correlated with a clean sheet. Sure, he didn’t have a lot to do, but what he did, he did with aplomb, particularly a strong first-half claw Kawhi Leonard would’ve been proud of, after Nemanja Gudelj’s header deflected off – you guessed it – Zouma.
Yes, there were also regressions from Saturday going forward, with Timo Werner nullified impressively by the Sevillan backline and Kai Havertz in more bumbling-Bambi mood than world-beating. That will come, though. In fact, it already has, in fits and starts, and it’s only going to get better. Hakim Ziyech’s introduction proved that, with the Moroccan adding a slickness to proceedings.
That’s what makes the clean sheet so important. Sure, the attackers were frustrated, but they won’t be too many times this season. That is, unless – as on Saturday – their efforts are in vain. And that’s why, in so many ways, any success at Chelsea must be founded on a sound platform at the back.
In these newly honed hands of Lampard – and Mendy – this now seems possible. Time will tell whether it will be backed up, and in this season, time is always of the essence. Saturday’s impending trip to Old Trafford is the next task and with Manchester United reveling from their Parisian prevails, and Marcus Rashford in resplendent MBE form, it’s sure to be a formidable one.
But the blueprint has been laid, and that couldn’t be said with much conviction before Sevilla.