Chelsea FC: Taking advantage of a crazy season.

 With the premier league title race seemingly open for the first time in a number of years, for various reasons this articles attempts to highlight key things that Frank Lampard’s team must figure out to be considered a serious contender right now and throughout this already wildly unpredictable season.

1. Chelsea have been gifting goals for fun between the start of last season and now and even though they have addressed their defensive concerns during the summer transfer window only little progress has been seen. Albeit it is only a few weeks into the new season, Chelsea has already committed 5 errors that have led to opposition goals, defenders on the team need to cut out mental and individual errors and stop switching off on defence if this number is to not get much worse than this. Finding the right defensive shape, balance, organization and personnel is crucial for this team if they are to cut out their habit of giving away needless goals. 

1. Going on from the point above, their midfield organization also needs some work, while not as atrocious as their backlines’ organization too many times midfielders like Kante, Jorginho and Kovacic get caught out to high up the pitch pressing the ball relentlessly. When it works and it leads to a turnover high up the pitch Chelsea are deadly in turning that opportunity into goals however when up against sides who are effective in beating this press a huge gap between the midfield and defensive lines is created allowing for teams to have a direct run at the Chelsea back 4. Due to the fact that no natural dm was bought this summer it is up to Lampard to find the balance in midfield with the players at his disposal and with Chelsea unlikely to stop high pressing in most games, it is also up to him to get the midfielders and forwards to press more effectively as a unit so they can win the ball early and not get caught out in the middle of the park as often.

1. Keeping their important players fit will go a long way into making this a successful season for Lampard’s men. As long as they properly manage the minutes of their key contributors or players that can be key contributors then this squad is almost too talented of a team to not cause havoc on the field once all their stellar attacking players gel.

1. This point also falls in line with the one above and that is to keep to role players engaged so that once they are called upon there is no discernible drop off between them and the starters. With 5 center backs and 3 left backs as well as other quality depth in other positions it will indeed be tricky for the coaching staff to keep everyone happy with requisite minutes but this season is long and games are being played sometimes with as little rest as possible in between. Therefore by having not just depth but quality depth that understand they need to perform at high levels on the training pitch to get first team minutes or fill in effectively when injury occurs will go a long way to making sure Chelsea can be competitive on all fronts. 

1. Finally Chelsea need to get their attackers firing and soon. In order to compete and begin a serious title charge the attackers need to start producing more, we’ve already seen glimpses of what Timo Werner and Kai Havertz bring to the team and now that both Hakim Ziyech and ultra talented Christian Pulisic back from long term injury not to mention last seasons’ other contributors like Callum Hudson-Odoi, Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount the group need to stop showing glimpses of what they are capable of and start consistently putting in the performances that players of their talent level should be doing on a regular basis. 

If Lampard, his coaching staff and the players both old and new can implement the 5 things listed above in the coming weeks, then in my opinion there is no doubt that this Chelsea squad should have the ability to compete in the long run in all the competitions that they are taking part in.