Chelsea’s reputation of developing homegrown talent had been a rather poor one until Frank Lampard’s return to Stamford Bridge as a manager in 2019.
The departure of Maurizio Sarri as the Blues’ manager after winning the Europa League three years ago led to the Blues to take a managerial gamble on one of there greatest ever players in Lampard, succeeding Sarri after only one season of experience as a professional manager.
That season came at Derby County in the Championship, where despite spending less than what was made in player sales, the Rams reached the play-off final, losing to an Aston Villa side inspired by then captain Jack Grealish, as well as John McGinn, Tyrone Mings and Tammy Abraham.
With the Blues being handed a two-window ban on buying and loaning in players by FIFA and Sarri leaving after a season to take the reigns at Juventus, Chelsea took a gamble on Lampard, tasking him with trying to qualify for the Champions League with a squad that could not sign extra players but had an armoury of young talent untested at the top level that was about to be experimented with.
Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori were two of those integrated into the senior squad, with Lampard getting the best out of both during his season at Derby that prepared them for what was to come at Chelsea. Striker Abraham, who had been on loan at Bristol City, Swansea City and Villa prior to Lampard’s return to Stamford Bridge, was also about to play a key role in the Blues’ attack that had just sold star man Eden Hazard to Real Madrid. Reece James was also about to become a star, having just returned from a loan with Wigan Athletic.
That season would not go down as perhaps the most memorable one in the club’s history, but given what Lampard did achieve with the gambles he had to take, the successes of a top four finish and a Champions League round of 16 exit to eventual winners Bayern Munich, as well as an FA Cup final, was a good season. All of that achieved by using a core of young homegrown in their first proper campaigns with the Blues took some feat.
Will Frank Lampard be able to turn it around and keep Everton in the Premier League? Have your say in the comments below.
The next season was less successful and before January’s transfer window slammed shut, Lampard was unemployed. Chelsea were ninth and five points off the Champions League spots when Lampard was sacked, despite them being top of the table and on a 17-game unbeaten run just a month earlier. A day after his dismissal, Thomas Tuchel, who guided Paris Saint-Germain to the Champions League final months earlier, was his successor.
Lampard left Chelsea low in the league table, but still in both the Champions League and the FA Cup, going unbeaten in their six group games in Europe. Tuchel would get the best out of his Blues squad, who reached the top four again, but the German’s best would come outside of the league.
An FA Cup final defeat to Leicester City was not the desired outcome, but Chelsea would be successful a fortnight later when winning the Champions League title for the second time in their history, beating Manchester City in Porto. While Tuchel will deservedly get the plaudits for his four-month turnaround, it was the academy core of players that Lampard bought to the fray and their group stage run of form before his exit where the now Everton boss should get often forgotten kudos for.
Chelsea’s leading goalscorer and former manager however needs to get one over his former side on Sunday. Everton are in real danger of a first relegation in over 70 years this term, sitting two points shy of safety but with a game in hand on Burnley above them in 17 th place. While having success at Derby and a big influence in the academy core era at Chelsea, taking Everton down for the first time in well over half a century would seriously damage his managerial credentials in just his third senior role.
What he can take comfort in is that while he has picked up just ten points from a possible 36 since succeeding Rafa Benitez at the end of January, all ten of them have been gained at home, including a win over Manchester United and in-form Newcastle United. However, an average of less than a point since his arrival has really put Everton in the thick of a relegation battle that a club of that size and financial resources should not be even remotely close to a side battling to beat the drop.
When Benitez left the club, Everton were 15 th and had averaged a point per game from his 19 in charge, six points clear of the relegation zone. That already poor form has nosedived even further in Lampard’s reign, and if his season on Merseyside ended with taking one of the biggest clubs in England down from the Premier League, his successful spell at Derby and how he started a new academy-led era at Chelsea may soon be forgotten.
