Frank Lampard’s staff deserves credit for Chelsea success too

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has been getting praised by fans lately, but his staff deserves plenty of credit for recent success too.

“The buck stops here” is a famous phrase that basically means that the person in charge has to face the consequences and rewards of the decisions of his staff, even if he or she did not actually make the decision themselves. The leader is ultimately the one to praise, and criticize, in situations.

Another important phrase is “it takes a village”. No one person is fully responsible for Chelsea’s recent successes. The Blues’ own manager Frank Lampard would surely agree. This season (and last) is very much a result of Lampard and his staff putting their heads together and finding the best solutions for Chelsea’s issues. While Lampard is (rightfully) getting some praise right now, don’t forget about his staff in the process.

Jody Morris is the most prominent and was often criticized heavily last season. Much of that was due to him having a hilarious Twitter that upset people, but also his fiery personality compared to Lampard’s coolness was often seen as an issue. Morris, however, is Lampard’s closest confidant as assistant manager and second only to Lampard in the tactical influence of the team.

In the academy, Morris and Joe Edwards (another academy coach turned Lampard first team coach) played a very consistent and eye catching style of football. The formation varied greatly over the years for both, but the notion of attacking in a 2-3-5 or 3-2-5 was still very present regardless. Most modern managers use these attacking shapes, but the more one watches Chelsea, the more some of the movements and ideas and player roles look like Morris’ and Edwards’ academy sides.

Anthony Barry has also been an important addition to the squad. He came from Wigan after they were relegated and he coached Chelsea’s own Reece James when he was on loan there. One of his wheelhouses is supposedly set pieces and defensive organization. What two things have improved the most this season? Set pieces and defensive organization. Sure, that could be due to a new keeper and a leader in the back line, but Barry’s addition can’t be dismissed.

Speaking of keepers, notice how there isn’t much criticism of goalkeeper coach Henrique Hilario anymore? For those that tried to defend Kepa Arrizabalaga (though almost all evidence showed that wasn’t a hill to die on), Hilario was cited as the reason for the Spaniard’s poor form. That would make sense if Edouard Mendy was struggling at all, but he clearly isn’t.

While on that note, Petr Cech is not technically a member of Lampard’s staff, but he is surely a trusted confidant. Shortly after helping Mendy settle and running some training sessions, the former keeper was brought out of retirement to become an emergency squad member. He is both player and staff now and his voice is influential.

It also can’t be ignored the excellent work he did on Frank Lampard’s behalf in the transfer window. On top of that, head of international scouting Scott McLachlan suddenly isn’t the bad guy when new players come in anymore. Lampard told Cech and McLachlan what (and sometimes who) he wanted, and they went out and laid the ground work for Marina Granovskaia to close the deal. Given the opportunistic streak of Chelsea’s transfer window, it is highly unlikely that Cech or McLachlan took an inactive role in finding players like Kai Havertz, Timo Werner, Thiago Silva, or Mendy for Chelsea.

Chelsea’s turn around is a culmination of many individuals doing an exceptional job together. Lampard is the man in charge and the buck will stop with him, but don’t ignore those that helped him along the way (especially given how some were criticized during the bad moments too).