Chelsea 2019/20 season report card: A – Lamps lights the way for youthful Blues

By Shamir Osman

Frank Lampard started his rookie season as Chelsea manager in 2019 with a host of hazards in front of him, except the one that mattered most – Eden.

If you had to read that sentence twice, that’s probably because the name Eden Hazard has already slipped from your mind. That’s one indication that this Chelsea side has actually been convincing – and only the start of the reasons they deserve an A- grade for the season.

Hazard is a magician on the pitch, and he did a whole lot more than just bring fans to the edge of their seats - he was also the reason Chelsea fans jumped into the air in celebration. You’ve probably already forgotten this little nugget of information, but Hazard was involved in half of all Chelsea goals in the season before Lampard returned to the Bridge.

This was the Chelsea side that Lampard inherited, bereft of its wildly effective talisman, hamstrung by a transfer ban, and himself a manager, in relative terms, as inexperienced as the kids in his squad.

Go on, admit it, you were actually entertained by Frank and his Chelsea side. And they’ve had a sensational season at Stamford Bridge, reaching the FA Cup final and, more importantly, finishing fourth in the league to ensure Champions League qualification. Quite a record for a man who’s only had 12 prior months of managerial experience.

They overcame Spurs twice, took revenge on Manchester United for their early season 4-0 thrashing, knocked Liverpool out of the FA Cup, and also beat Manchester City in THAT match to end the Citizens’ reign as EPL champions. Chelsea clearly could play among the big boys, and they did it with kids.

Lampard’s work with the Chelsea Academy kids has been lauded – perhaps a move forced by circumstances instead of choice, yes – but seeing the likes of Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount, Reece James, Fikayo Tomori and even Billy Gilmour hold their own, even shine, on the pitch for a side that has actually been entertaining must have warmed the cockles of fans’ hearts.

Chelsea could play it long to Abraham and Olivier Giroud, and also mix it up by building up from the back. But things also did break down at the back every so often: there was some naïve defending, exacerbated by schoolboy errors so embarrassing that it would’ve made said schoolboy blush. But that only made watching the Blues that much more entertaining – you never know what you’re going to get.

I wish Lampard hadn’t been so ruthless at the start of his managerial reign and axed David Luiz. Sideshow Bob would’ve upped the ante for an already unpredictable and entertaining Chelsea side, but he did bring that quality to an Arsenal side that became more fun to watch – and also made our rather stoic Siaomate, Noah, pull his hair out - so there was that silver lining.

There were no favours from Luiz in the FA Cup final to put the icing on the cake for what was already a great season for Chelsea, but in that match was perhaps where we saw Lampard’s biggest mistakes as manager come to light.

Mount and Cesar Azpilicueta pulled up with hamstring injuries within 50 minutes of the game, with Lampard complaining about the fixture list. But come on Frank, the players have had some 100 days without a competitive fixture prior to restarting the season, and non-contact injuries are more often a sign of poor load management than anything else. Maybe even an overeager boss looking to make an impact.

But even that over-eagerness was fun to watch. Remember that petulant child who refused to come off the pitch when his number came up at the Carabao Cup final last season? Well, Lampard has kicked Kepa Arrizabalaga onto the bench, with mutterings that he’s going to be booted out of the club, the fact the Spaniard is still the most expensive goalkeeper in the world notwithstanding.

Chelsea have been wildly entertaining on all fronts, and even delivered on results. And it could get even better next season: they’ve already signed Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech, and there’s still chatter about Kai Havertz being wooed to Stamford Bridge.

It’s going to be a whole different ball game, with the season bringing with it distinctly different hazards for Lampard and Chelsea, but one thing’s for sure, they did a hell of job patching up that fresh Hazard-shaped hole at Stamford Bridge.

This article, “Chelsea 2019/2020 season report card: A - Lamps lights the way for youthful Blues”, originally appeared on Football Siao – Singapore’s craziest EPL website.