How Chelsea can be contenders for the title
Jan Oblak is the closest that you will find to a no-brainer for any coach in need of a goalkeeper
Chelsea are in danger of earning an unwanted nickname: The Entertainers.
There are worse descriptions, but Frank Lampard will not want it. He knows all those clubs given such a characterisation are being damned with faint praise.
Under Lampard, Chelsea have become one of the country’s most exciting teams, full of flair, movement and imagination in attack. He deserves credit for evolving a radical style shift in a less methodical manner than Maurizio Sarri, but the enduring flaws are clear.
Chelsea’s 37 league games have brought 121 goals this season – just over three goals per game – second only to Manchester City’s fixtures. Box office.
The problem for Lampard is 54 of those 121 were in their own net, their worst defensive performance since 1997. That is a staggering record for a side destined to finish in the top four. Only six of their games have ended in a draw, Chelsea losing 12 Premier League fixtures. They have conceded one goal more than Brighton in 16th place. Even more worrying, they have kept one clean sheet away from home, equal to Norwich City.
I knew the identity of Chelsea would change under Lampard, and he would encourage a more free-flowing, expansive style than that which won the title under Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho. Lampard played in more pragmatic Chelsea teams, famed for their meanness at the back. I do not think their Premier League record of conceding only 15 goals in 2004-05 will ever be beaten.
On the opening weekend of the season, I wrote in this column that Lampard was the right man for Chelsea, but I feared it might not be the right time because finishing in the top four was too big an ask in his first season, and Roman Abramovich was not renowned for patience.
Lampard can prove my doubts unfounded over the next two weeks. Winning the title was never on the agenda yet, so finishing in the top four and lifting the FA Cup would represent an exceptional start to his top-flight coaching career. It is too easy to look at the early-season problems at Arsenal and Tottenham to downplay how significant an achievement that will be should he get a result against Wolves tomorrow, and lead his side to victory at Wembley next Saturday. There were not many going out on a limb and predicting Chelsea would finish in the Champions League places. I saw this as a transitional period in which the top six would be satisfactory.
The speed of improvement has increased expectations. That can be a blessing and curse. On Wednesday night at Anfield, we saw how much work still needed to be done. There is an imbalance in Chelsea’s line-up that can only be resolved with major investment in a goalkeeper and top-class centre-half. Liverpool ripped through them for a long period, despite Chelsea causing so many difficulties of their own.
So far, all Chelsea’s summer recruitment is focusing on adding to their firepower, with Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner the first expensive purchases. Kai Havertz might be next. These will make Chelsea stronger. They will not make them more solid. Lampard has to try to recoup what he can for Kepa Arrizabalaga, the world’s most expensive goalkeeper who is not of the required standard for a side of Chelsea’s class. Kepa’s save ratio of 54.45 per cent (55 stops from 101 shots on target) this season is the worst in the Premier League. It is less than Claudio Bravo when he was costing Manchester City points during his year as Pep Guardiola’s No1. We know how Guardiola responded. Lampard will do the same.
Given how much he has already invested in more attackers, I would be surprised if Chelsea have not already lined up Kepa’s successor. Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak is the best available and would be a game-changer. Yes, meeting his £109million buy-out clause is expensive, but it looks like Chelsea have the funds. Oblak is the closest you will find to a no-brainer for any coach in need of a keeper, and given Petr Cech’s involvement in Chelsea’s technical department
– and remembering the impact he had when becoming one of Mourinho’s first recruits in 2004 – the club can be well advised on what a ready-made No1 can do. That is their biggest priority.
Chelsea need only look at Ederson and Alisson to see the value of a world-class keeper. Ederson contributed to City increasing their points tally from 78 to 100 in 2018. Liverpool have collected 97 and 96 in successive seasons, leaping from 75 points the year before Alisson signed.
The number of tweaks Lampard has made in defence shows he is not enamoured with his back-four options, either. There are similarities between Chelsea now and Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp prior to Virgil van Dijk and Alisson’s signings. But the difference was not solely their arrival. When Philippe Coutinho was sold, Klopp sacrificed an attacking midfielder for a more tactically disciplined central player, thus freeing up his fullbacks.
There was more stability, Liverpool involved in fewer frenetic, end-to-end games. I would say, at their very best, Liverpool were easier on the eye in Klopp’s first few years. But the best games were too infrequent, the foundations not there to grind out results.
To take Chelsea to the next level, Lampard needs to find the right formula with so many attacking personnel. To do so, he may have to compromise some idealistic principles rather than pack his team with so many forwardthinking players.
His demeanour following a recent loss at Sheffield United told me he has already made some big decisions and is waiting for the right time at the end of the season to tell some high-profile names they are not in his plans.
“I learnt a lot today – I learnt a lot that I won’t forget,” he said, that day. It sounded ominous. He must have his mind made up about many of those he inherited from Sarri. I can see Jorginho rejoining Sarri at Juventus. Jorginho’s recent omission for youngster Billy Gilmour was a nod to the future.
It is a tribute to Lampard that we are talking about Chelsea being so good to watch since the sale of Eden Hazard, who was the best player in the Premier League. In Christian Pulisic, they might have the next Chelsea superstar.
I would say Chelsea are well ahead of schedule under Lampard, and certainly in as strong a position as I thought possible 10 months ago. The first task needs completion tomorrow. Whatever happens beyond that, we can already see Chelsea’s fashion makeover.
When Chelsea were at their best under Mourinho, Abramovich always seemed to want more. He wanted a side renowned for entertaining and winning trophies. Lampard is halfway there.