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Chelsea are not a club known for giving their coaches a lot of time to get things right, but the progress Frank Lampard has made so far as Blues boss means that they are not in a position where they need to ask for patience.
Yes, Sunday draw with Tottenham It meant that Chelsea missed a chance to reach the top of the Premier League for the first time since Lampard took over in June 2019. That would have been a highly visible way of marking their development.
But even without finding a way through José Mourinho’s side and thus reaching the top, his performance quietly underlined the improvements Lampard has made while coaching.
In their first season, their main problems were how they managed defensively, but they have looked much stronger for a few weeks and this time it was the same again.
Everyone knows how dangerous the Spurs are on the counterattack, but Chelsea completely nullified the threat from Harry Kane and Son Heung-min. Those two didn’t smell Stamford Bridge.
I’m sure Frank will be a bit disappointed that his team didn’t take their chances, but the quality he has up front means that scoring goals is not usually a problem for him.
When you look at the bigger picture, Chelsea are clearly still moving in the right direction, even if Lampard will have to wait a bit longer to reach first place.
‘Nobody has reason to doubt him as a coach’
I spoke to Lampard last week and he was rightly delighted with the progress his team had made and where they stood, defensively and offensively.
Sunday’s drawing doesn’t change that. Chelsea have now only lost once, to Liverpool, in 16 games in all competitions in 2020-21 and are already in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
They are third in the Premier League, just two points off the top, and they are the joint top scorers. Things are going well for them, and Lampard deserves a lot of credit for that.
He will tell you himself that he is a rookie coach and that he is still learning about the job, but he has been very impressive in everything he has done so far.
Frank’s achievements as a Chelsea player, his relationship with the fans and his friendship with the club’s owner, Roman Abramovich, made him a good fit when he was named, but without results to back him up, he still wouldn’t have lasted long.
He achieved his goals last season under difficult circumstances: Chelsea had just sold their best player, Eden Hazard, and were unable to make any transfers due to a transfer ban.
The Blues had to rely a lot on young players, one of the things that struck me was that Frank gave a lot of them a chance, but they still finished in the top four and qualified for the Champions League.
At the beginning of this season, the expectations were very different because they spent a lot in the summer and there is probably more pressure on Lampard. However, so far he has delivered.
There is still a lot that Frank wants to achieve, and win, at Chelsea, but he’s off to a very strong start. He has given no one any reason to doubt him as a coach, far from it, in fact.
What has Lampard changed about Chelsea?
There was a time when Chelsea filtered goals badly in the back but that is not the case anymore. In all competitions, they have only conceded two goals in their last nine games.
The addition of Edouard Mendy has made a big difference, because now they have a sure goalkeeper who has kept five clean sheets in six league games.
Thiago Silva also has an excellent signing, bringing experience and nous to his bottom line. He’s 36 so he can’t play twice a week, but Lampard is also using him wisely to manage his performances.
Then N’Golo Kane goes back to doing what he does best: protecting the defense. Along with Mateo Kovacic, he did a great job of tracking down Kane and Son and keeping them quiet on Sunday.
It means the Blues are harder to take down, but they haven’t lost their forefront in attack where they have so many options to choose from.
He failed to score a goal against Tottenham but had by far the best chances despite Mourinho’s side being reluctant to open up for most of the game.
At times, the Spurs had Moussa Sissoko playing as a third center half and were happily sitting deep in their own half.
Chelsea didn’t have much room to exploit, but they still should have scored. Tammy Abraham had three good chances, Olivier Giroud passed last and Mason Mount forced a brilliant save from Hugo Lloris.
One point against the Spurs in the way they’re in comes down as a good result, of course, but, knowing Frank, you’ll believe your team can improve even more. Your challenge now is to build on this excellent start.
Alan Shearer was talking to Chris Bevan of BBC Sport.
