Failure to Contend for League Title Will Cost Frank Lampard Dearly
It was appropriate to compare Chelsea’s 0–0 draw with Tottenham on Sunday to the classic Grand Slam Sunday matches of the 2004–2009 era of the Premier League. Not only did the game at Stamford Bridge play out like those intense yet boring affairs, but figures at the centre of it meant that this was truly the league coming full circle.
Then Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was more often than not at the heart of the most controlled games of this time. Memories of mundane 0–0s and 1–0s won’t stir the loins like Liverpool’s 4–3 win over Newcastle in 1996, but this was a defining era for the Premier League.
In the centre of Mourinho’s Chelsea side was, of course, Frank Lampard the current Chelsea manager. And his opposition on Sunday was, naturally, the very same Mourinho — because thankfully there is only one after all.
This was also the fourth big game of the season for Chelsea in which they failed to score. This is a club that spent the Summer raiding some of Europe’s biggest clubs for their best attacking young talent.
Hakim Ziyech (£36m), Timo Werner (£47.7m), Kai Havertz (£72m) and even Ben Chilwell (£45.1m) — who is one of Europe’s most offensive left backs — joined for a total combined fee of over £200m.
Last season saw Chelsea get criticised for being too open in the big games. They were too easy to get at on the counter attack. Yet, good results were earned. Most notably, they beat Manchester City 2–1 in the game that confirmed Liverpool’s 19th league title. But, most importantly, the Blues won the league double over Tottenham.
The 2–0 win at the new White Hart Lane last December was a big moment for Lampard’s managerial career. This was the first league game against his old manager and his Chelsea side completely outclassed the North London club. This was both the result and the performance to show that Lampard was good enough to come up with the game plans for the biggest matches.
They achieved these results not despite their openness at the back but, in part, because of that openness. What created that gap for opponents to exploit was their desire to attack their rivals from the front. Their gung-ho approach was to be celebrated.
Their confidence that they could give more in attack than they take in defence was admirable. This was also new for Chelsea, this was Lampard very obviously shedding the reputation they earned under Mourinho and with him as a player.
This is what makes Lampard’s reversion to the old Chelsea way so worrying. Not only have they upgraded their attack in almost every way, but now they are failing to apply the new crop of exciting attacking players to their exciting approach to big games. They have shied away from competing with their rivals and have settled for simply avoiding the humiliation of defeat.
Their results in big games this season has seen them lose 2–0 at home to Liverpool, draw 0–0 with Sevilla, Manchester United and now Tottenham.
They have managed to shore up their defence, ever since that 3–3 draw with Southampton in October, but at the cost of scoring any goals in the big games. They still have the firepower to blow away the likes of Newcastle United, Sheffield United and Burnley. But those sides are near the bottom of the table.
In a competitive mid-table, it will be games against the likes of Southampton or Leeds United — who they play next weekend — where their inability to properly balance their attack and defence will become a major weakness. Marcelo Bielsa’s side in particular have their game plan worked out to a tee and know exactly how they will play every match.
As long as Lampard keeps mixing around his players like a teenager with test tubes at the back of science class, these sides will be able to exploit their uncertainty.
In a season where the title winner is expected to earn a much smaller amount of points to gain the title, it is now that Chelsea should be striking. With Liverpool and Manchester City — the two dominant sides of the last four years — both suffering with a long list of issues, this is where Chelsea should be aiming to pick up the scraps, an act they specialised in over the last ten years.
Liverpool and City are at the end of their respective four year cycle — the accepted life-span of any team’s window to win major trophies before needing an overhaul — whereas Chelsea are at the beginning of theirs. The freshness of this squad, along with just how many great players there are in it, means that they should be considered title favourites. Yet it is Tottenham that are being spoken about in such a manner.
The only thing holding them back from that mantle is the manager. Over the years, the Blues have had a string of successful and high profile managers, all of which would make Chelsea favourites for the title if they were still in charge today.
A failure to capitalise on this window of opportunity, particularly given the money spent over the Summer, would put serious pressure on Lampard. Question marks will remain over his suitability to the job, and with the club’s reputation for sacking managers, it is possible that it would be enough for owner Roman Abramovich to look elsewhere.
