Chelsea boss Frank Lampard is finding his stride after nailing big tactical calls against Liverpool

James Olley4 March 2020

This was a victory for Frank Lampard as much as Chelsea. The 41-year-old’s legendary status will buy him more time than most Blues managers but questions were still starting to surface as to how much he could address his team’s problems and not just correctly identify them.

Lampard has described himself as a “broken record” in lamenting errors at both ends of the pitch, particularly at home where they have already lost eight times across all competitions.

It has been possible to make a case for Chelsea’s head coach contributing to those shortcomings at times — perhaps in his underuse of Olivier Giroud or

in his choice of formation — but here he got everything right on a hugely satisfying evening which should engender fresh confidence for the challenges ahead.

Liverpool were not at full strength or, seemingly, fully engaged for the challenge. Jurgen Klopp named a stronger line-up than many anticipated, however, and there were still enough threatening moments to make this a credible test of Lampard and his players.

Kepa Arrizabalaga’s recall was a triumph, his triple save from Sadio Mane, Divock Origi and then Neco Williams bristling with the character lacking prior to his six-game omission.

The return to a back four helped limit the space Liverpool’s full-backs could operate in while keeping Willian and Pedro in areas where they could hurt the opposition.

Willian’s 13th-minute strike owed plenty to sloppiness from Liverpool, first in conceding possession cheaply before Adrian fumbled the Brazilian’s shot. But Willian had moments earlier found himself in space to fire a fierce effort, symptomatic of Chelsea preparing to go toe-to-toe in a manner similar to their two previous meetings.

Giroud helped link the play better than Michy Batshuayi would surely have done — another judgment call paying off — but the biggest success of the night was Billy Gilmour.

Just when it seemed Lampard had run out of youngsters to re-energise Chelsea, along comes an 18-year-old able to withstand the Liverpool press and use the ball with intelligence far beyond his years.

Seizing his chance: Gilmour shone at Stamford Bridge
PA

It was a particularly surprising call, given Jorginho was left on the bench as a result. The Italian will be suspended for Chelsea’s next three games after picking up a two-match domestic ban which will precede his European punishment in the return leg against Bayern Munich — and so surely he would start here with an enforced 10-day absence imminent.

But operating in Jorginho’s position, Gilmour was a 90-minute revelation, joining the list of youthful talent to help inject fresh impetus into the Blues after Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori, Mason Mount and Reece James.

Abraham’s recent injury problems combined with Tomori’s struggles to make the starting line-up of late had threatened to suggest the boost from youth was fizzling out. Mount is now rediscovering more of his early-season form, James is a reliable presence and if Gilmour can reproduce this more often, Chelsea’s midfield options do not look as depleted as first thought.

Injuries are mounting, however. Mateo Kovacic and Willian were forced off with Achilles’ problems. Lampard expressed particular concerns over Kovacic and so, with N’Golo Kante sidelined by an adductor issue alongside Jorginho, Gilmour could easily get another chance very soon to prove Tuesday night was no one-off.

That is also Chelsea’s challenge as a whole. Chelsea produced a performance of similar conviction against Tottenham only to fall short of that level against an admittedly strong Bayern team but also at Bournemouth.

Consistency will come with further work and a summer overhaul of the squad but Lampard believes a discussion held with his players two weeks ago helped to define the task at hand.

“I felt we needed a general meeting on where we want to get to and the realisation of the work it will take to get us there. We’re not Chelsea of different eras gone. We’re in a different place.

“We’ve got younger players and some older players. We’re trying to bridge a gap upwards. It’s important to know that unless we work hard every day in training, unless we behave well and go home thinking how we can be better as a group, we can’t make that jump up.

“Our issue has been in both boxes and sometimes there is a mental side to that. So, it was trying to take that on, the mental issue.

In Pictures | Chelsea vs Liverpool | 03/03/2020

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“All the players agreed, we all said the same and that’s a good start. But beating Liverpool is not the end, we have to replicate it again and again.”

This was a positive step towards Lampard getting into stride, too.

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