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The view from above must be quite special for Frank Lampard. Especially if you have brought your binoculars …
The Chelsea manager spends Saturday night looking down on the rest of the Premier League after a 3-1 win over Leeds United. Overtaking Marcelo Bielsa, who now lurks 12 spots behind Lampard on the table, will have been particularly sweet for Lampard. But sitting on top at the end of the day for the first time as a manager would have been satisfaction enough for the Blues boss.
Lampard could also be quite proud of the chances of Chelsea staying there. They may not finish the weekend on top, with Tottenham and Liverpool able to overtake the Blues on Sunday. But Chelsea’s form means they deserve as much as anyone talked about as title contenders.
Dice the sum Chelsea spent in the summer, perhaps that should be expected. No coach should ever finish in the top four and then have £ 222 million lavished without facing the expectation of a title push as a result. But as countless teams and managers have shown, spending alone is not a guaranteed recipe for success.
Lampard has shown in this first part of the season that he can hone that individual talent, whether bought or produced, and combine it into a team capable of taking on all the Premier League participants.
The Blues boss has also had to identify and correct some of Chelsea’s flaws. Given the scale of his recruiting, some unfamiliarity was inevitable in the opening weeks of the season and it manifested itself in a deeply troubling defensive record.
If Bielsa had been able to analyze and look for holes in the rear that Lampard employed until mid-October, then Leeds might have had a field day at Stamford Bridge. But since conceding three at West Brom and another three in ridiculous circumstances at home to Southampton, Lampard has propped up his side to such an extent that they have racked up eight clean sheets in 10 games.
That defense restricted Leeds, an attack that may lack efficiency but certainly not creativity, just eight shots. In the previous fortnight, Bielsa’s men have rained 48 attempts on goals from Arsenal and Everton and have averaged almost double the number of shots per game that Chelsea allowed them during the season.
The immediate cure to Chelsea’s defensive woes had the side effect of slowing their production at the other end. But Lampard has now managed to craft a precise mix between defense and attack. Since that dire draw with the Saints, in more than 11 games in all competitions, Chelsea have scored 25 goals and conceded three.
In the Premier League, they have scored three more goals than anyone else with Christian Pulisic’s late goal bringing the number of players in Lampard’s squad to 13 who have scored this season. The next best scorers distribution is nine.
🗣 “We dominate the game and the action in the pits. We watch Leeds a lot and analyze it closely because they are a bit unique.”
Frank Lampard reflects on another Chelsea win and how his season is shaping up.
Watch the reaction on Sky Sports PL 📺 pic.twitter.com/HNvHDVb5Ao
– Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 5, 2020
It is a great omen that the fittest scorer of them all is one who looked almost done in Chelsea. As recently as the last international break, Olivier Giroud seemed almost certain that he was heading to the start in January. But a half dozen goals of all kinds in the past week and a half have propelled the Frenchman just one short of top scorer Timo Werner.
Werner himself was a splurge against Leeds on a night where he could have scored a hat-trick. Kai Havertz was similarly faded, though unlike Werner, his performance was in keeping with a slow start to his first season in the Premier League. The form of the German attacker must be one of Lampard’s few concerns, but with incredible competition for places in his line of attack, the Blues boss has plenty of options to choose from.
Chelsea’s credentials will be put to the test over the next month, when they face Everton, Wolves, West Ham, Arsenal, Villa and Manchester City. All but Arsenal have shown streaks of consistency this season, though none as impressive or sustained as Lampard’s team. It may not turn out to be a way to win the title, but it certainly is the way for title contenders.
Ian Watson
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