14 Season Preview 2019-20 FourFourTwoCHELSEA
ForChelsea,thebigquestionthisseasonis one that
has been echoing around the forums, threads and
phone-ins for some time. Now, in 2019-20, we may
finally get an answer either way.
Successive managers have found excuses to kick the
can down the road, blaming top-down pressure to play
it safe in the quest for results. They put all of their chips
on experience, assured that Eden Hazard or a set-piece
would earn the Blues a result. But with Hazard having
departed to Real Madrid and the London club’s hand
forced by a well-documented transfer ban, the time to
roll the dice is now.CAn THE ACADEMY BOYS REALLY
CUT IT AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL?
PREMIER LEAGUE
2019-20
Hiring Frank Lampard was an easy morale buy for
the club. The reaction to his arrival was nothing short
of ecstatic, with the refrain of ‘Super Frankie Lampard’
firmly at the heart of Chelsea fans’ repertoire once
again. On those terms, at least, the 41-year-old is the
perfect manager for a fanbase feeling desperate for
some sense of continuity. However, it is Lampard’s
assistant – the highly-regarded Jody Morris – who
should benefit the squad most.
As youth-team coach at Stamford Bridge, before
joining Lampard at Derby for a season, Morris reared
much of Chelsea’s golden generation himself, helping
them to win an unprecedented youth quadruple in
2017-18. The board hope he’ll pick up where he left off.Chelsea have an astonishingly talented roster of
young players on their books, but getting the best out
of them, while also managing the expectations held
by the couple of dozen senior players at the club,
requires a manager with bravery and – that rarest of
Premier League qualities – patience. Appointing those
young players’ favoured coach seems a canny step in
that direction, as does promoting Joe Edwards from
the academy to first-team coach.
Can Chelsea become the Ajax of west London? Let’s
not get ahead of ourselves. The laws of probability and
football dictate that only a few members of this feted
academy will have careers at the very top of the game.
Between Mason Mount, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Trevoh
Chalobah, Ethan Ampadu, Fikayo Tomori, Reece James,
Jake Clarke-Salter and more – not to mention senior
England internationals Tammy Abraham and Ruben
Loftus-Cheek – some will swim and some will sink back
to the depths of youth football.
But with game time, and the pressure level reduced
to ‘mild’ for one campaign, Chelsea’s kids could show
a sceptical club that the future is now.LAST SEASON
PREMIER LEAGUE 3rd
FA CUP Fifth Round
LEAGUE CUP Runners-Up
EUROPA LEAGUE Winners
TOP SCORER
Eden Hazard (21)