Chelsea: Ben Chilwell needs an experienced backup
By Oliver Smith
With the games coming thick and fast for Chelsea, the health of summer signing Ben Chilwell will be starting to play on the mind of manager Frank Lampard.
At least, that was the lead to this article before the England left back picked up an injury on international duty with England at the UEFA Nations League.
Far from starting to play on the mind of the Chelsea boss, Chilwell’s health will now be front and center for Lampard. It was reportedly a back spasm that forced the young Englishman off the field in England’s 2-0 loss to Belgium, and while that is thankfully not a re-injury of his foot that delayed his Chelsea debut, it should be treated seriously nonetheless.
Despite this seeming to be a short-term setback, it poses the question: what do Chelsea do if Chilwell suffers a more serious injury? It is clear Frank Lampard wants to keep Marcos Alonso as far from the starting line-up as possible, while Emerson continues to be mediocre.
With Reece James steadily making the right back role his own, Cesar Azpilicueta is the obvious option to cover at left back while Chilwell is out. Outside of Azpilicueta however, the Blues lack depth at full back.
Alonso and Emerson both appear to be half out of the door at Stamford Bridge with former manager Antonio Conte keen on bringing at least one of the two to Inter Milan.
Formerly a position of squad strength for Chelsea, with Tariq Lamptey now at Brighton, Lampard only has Ian Maatsen and Juan Castillo in the youth ranks as natural full backs. Malang Sarr has played full back before, however Sarr is naturally a center back and should be considered as such.
It is likely that few have heard of Juan Castillo, the 20-year-old left sided player signed from Ajax in 2016, now on loan at AK Alkmaar. Castillo has played both left wing and left back but appears to be one of the loan players to join and train with the Blues only to be sold for a tidy profit later. If he is to be a Chelsea player, he is still a number of years, and a handful of loans away from first team football at the Bridge.
Ian Maatsen is a tad closer. The Dutchman might be the long term option for the Blues, and while the 18-year-old is featuring in League One for Charlton Athletic, don’t expect him to be able to push for a recall to Cobham just yet.
The gulf in ability between what Chelsea have in Ben Chilwell and youth players like Castillo and Maatsen presents an issue for the Blues. Neither Alonso nor Emerson appear to be up to the standards Frank Lampard expects, but the manager is forced into keeping them around because he has no other options.
Azpilicueta is already the cover at right back, to ask him to cover the left back position as well is too much for the 31-year-old.
That leaves Chelsea and Frank Lampard in a difficult position. Does Lampard wait it out and hope that Emerson rise out of his mediocrity, try and find a stop-gap solution in the form of Andreas Christensen or Antonio Rudiger, or does he delve into the transfer market and look to bring in a left back?
Rudiger has spent some time at right back over the course of his career, so moving him to be the cover at right back while Azpilicueta covers Chilwell on the left is plausible but it is a square peg in a round hole type of solution.
Some might be wary of entering the transfer market again in no small part due to the fact Chelsea did not spend upwards of £50 million for Chilwell to sit on the bench.
With Financial Fair Play to consider the Blues aren’t exactly in a position to splash the cash once again.
This means that the left backs associated with Chelsea before the arrival of Ben Chilwell, the Jose Gaya, Alejandro Grimaldo and Nicholas Tagliafico of the world are out of the question.
What Chelsea need is an established left back, who can bring experience and ability to the team, but are at a stage in their career where they no longer expect to be, or can be, the go-to player for their current team. If the Blues were to venture into the transfer market, there are some players out there that meet that criteria.