Having purchased Chelsea F.C famously for £1 in 1982 when property developers were hoping to gain freehold rights of Stamford Bridge. Over the next Twenty One years later Chelsea became; regular top six finishers in the highest division of English football, an FA Cup win in 1997 and 2000, a League Cup and Uefa Cup Winners Cup in 1998 and reached the
quarter final of the Champions League in 1999 at their first attempt.

A piece of football trivia for you, Chelsea FC were the first English football club to qualify for the European Cup in 1955 but were barred from participating by the FA (oh how it could of all been so different).
By 2002 Chelsea FC (unknown to the fans) were in financial trouble. There was the real possibility that the club were going to have to default on a £75 million loan, as Chelsea Village plc, the company of which the football club was a subsidiary, was in severe financial difficulties.

Watching the final game of the 2003/04 season, everybody knew that Chelsea and Liverpool were in a showdown for the final qualification spot for the Champions League. I will never forget that game, I was living in
Liverpool and watching it in a pub, the match being duped the £20 million match. There have been many stories told about the build up to the match, as Chelsea fans were unaware of the plight The Pensioners were in.

Trevor Birch (the clubs Chief Executive) addressed the team before the kick-off and made sure they were aware in no uncertain terms, that a loss would result in the club undertaking drastic cost-cutting measures and that started with the salaries. The now famous £1 billion goal by Jesper Gronkjaer is now etched into Chelsea history (what history? Yes I have heard
the chants as well). The fact that Chelsea only needed a draw to Liverpool doesn’t matter.

That it was in fact Marcel Desailly’s equalising header that was technically the clubs saviour is a minor point. (On a side note You-Tube Gianfranco Zola’s cameo role as a substitute. He was brought on to slow the game down and keep the ball. Well he did that in the top corner, to Jamie Carragher’s
embarrassment. The little Italian magician embarrassed the young scouser, it is hilarious!).
Sixteen years later and the foundations built by Ken Bates have been expanded upon and I am not just talking about the West Stand. The €140 million paid by Abramovich to purchase the West London club, is just a drop in the ocean in comparison to what he has spent on funding the
personnel to the squad. Over £1 billion has been spent on players and we will never know the full amount paid to managers who were shown the door before their contracts expired.


This season and Chelsea’s attitude towards their new manager will be different (I have heard that before). Chelsea have an Englishman at the helm (permanently) for the first time since Glen Hoddle. There have been no fresh faces on the playing staff (due to a transfer embargo), as well as an
emphasis on developing youth players into the senior squad.

This has been has publicly discussed by Frank Lampard as a clear statement. This is in clear contrast to past managers, who were under too
much pressure for immediate results and dealing with the latest influx of summer signings, to realistically consider in giving any members of the trophy winning youth teams an opportunity.

Derby Days


If Lampard’s managerial debut at Derby is an indication of how Chelsea will line-up this season, then we can expect The Pensioners to shape up in a 4-3-3 formation, similar to how the new Chelsea manager played under Jose Mourinho. This evolved into a 4-3-2-1 formation as Derby’s wingers
were encouraged to cut inside and form a more central attack. This illustrates that although Lampard has incorporated a structure similar to one where he played a pivotal role at Chelsea.

He is willing to allow players to express themselves more, than under the strict regime of The Special One. Whether or not this style of play was deployed by Lampard, due to his opinion of the capabilities at his disposal, or it was a tactic he will bring forward into Stamford Bridge we will have to wait and see.
An aspect of The Rams style that the Chelsea faithful are likely to see this season is high pressing football, with the objective of dominating possession. Derby did not exactly excel in their defensive aspect of the beautiful game, conceding 59 goals, however I am sure Lampard is hoping this will improve at Chelsea with a higher pedigree of football.

Lampard instigated a very compact shape defensively, forcing teams to attack down the flanks, as Derby congested the middle of the park with
the objective of keeping the ball and opposition as far from the goal as possible. The Derby County players are encouraged to press the opposition across all areas of the pitch, even from the forward line.

Combine that with a compact structure, this results in the Rams attempting to apply pressure to force mistakes from individuals further up the field, allowing Lampard’s men to begin attacks closer to their opponents own goal. Derby County’s flexible formation was evident off the ball as the 4-3-3 formation would adapt to 4-4-

  1. Derby’s deep defensive structure would involve a central midfielder automatically pushing out towards the by-line to counteract the oppositions full back, while the winger of the opposite side of
    the park would come back inside to complete four across the middle of the park.
  2. Lampard has shown his ability to recognise and have the confidence to adapt his team, depending on his opponents and the situation. After successive defeats to Leeds United in the Championship,
    Lampard scrapped their tried and tested possession football, for a more patient, deeper style.
  3. This allowed The Peacocks to push forward, with Derby County’s intention of hitting them on the counter attack. Direct balls by The Rams into areas of space left by Leeds United allowed Mason Bennett to exploit his aerial ability and catch Leeds United on the break. The result, a Play-Off final with Aston Villa.

Frank’s Formations

As previously mentioned Frank Lampard’s Derby incorporated a possession based style of play. From an offensive perspective Lampard wanted his team to build up their play from the back and attack quickly through the centre of the park. Lampard encouraged his players to express themselves and give their teammates plenty of options in attack.

Playing in triangles the central defenders and defensive midfielder would produce short passes to each other, allowing one central defender to advance with the ball. If Lampard is to incorporate a similar offensive style, I have visions of David Luiz being encouraged to undertake his “Playstation” runs into midfield and continue forward if an opportunity presents itself.

While the defensive midfielder came deep back towards his own centre of defence, other central midfielders would look for space left by an attacking opposition following the DMC back towards his own goal. While space is being found in the middle of the park, other midfielders would be given the
freedom to make a forward to improve the options available.

Despite all this central movement, when Derby had the ball, full-backs would be found to be making forward runs, giving the attacking move the option of going wide. This is not dissimilar to how Chelsea have attacked under pervious managers, with the like of Alonso and Azpilicueta flying down the flanks.
Frank Lampard incorporates a style of play that relies on mobile players who accentuates in speed and stamina. He has plenty of players at his disposal from the Chelsea senior and youth squads. Which players he will introduce into his first eleven is the key question and possibly makes the
difference in our FPL fortunes.

If fantasy football managers can select the correct personnel at Lampard’s disposal, their price and points potential could make them the value pick of the season.

Frank’s Friendlies


I don’t believe there is too much to read into analysing the early friendly fixtures Chelsea have played over the last few weeks. Frank Lampard has used a variety of formations during the summer including 4-2-3-1, a 4-4-2 diamond and 4-1-4-1. It would be fair to say everybody at the West London
club has been given an opportunity to catch the attention of the Chelsea Legend, but as we get ever closer to the start the enigma machine is starting show signs of breaking the Chelsea code for FPL managers.


With just over two weeks before the start of the season, Chelsea met Barcelona in the Far East Sanitama Stadium in Japan. This is when I believe Lampard started to finalise the system he wanted to play and began setting down markers as to the personnel. Chelsea opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation, with most notably in this starting line-up for me, Tammy Abraham leading the line up-front.

Pedro, Mount and Pulisic started behind Abraham, with Jorginho and Kovacic protecting the back four of Azpilicueta, Luiz, Christensen and Emerson. I think this was a key friendly this summer due to the timescale before the season starts and the opposition. I don’t believe that this will be starting eleven come 16:30 on the 11th August but it is not too far from it.


In terms of style of play, it was no surprise to see Lampard continue where he left off at Derby County and force Barcelona back with a high pressing game, which inevitable was the catalyst behind Chelsea’s first goal. As was seen at Pride Park last season, Lampard gave his full backs Azpilicueta and Emerson the freedom to attack Barcelona’s defence, while returning to a narro compact shape when without the ball.

The vast majority of the bench was emptied as Ross Barkley
scored Chelsea’s second goal, from Abraham’s opener in the first half. A major caveat to this match
was that this was Barcelona’s first pre-season friendly, however for Chelsea there were definite signs
of the direction their new manager was taking his team.

The following two friendlies saw Lampard stick to a 4-2-3-1 formation, so I would be extremely confident that this is the system he will employ against Manchester United for the first game of the season. I am not going to take too much from the friendly directly following Barcelona. The match at the
Madejski Stadium saw a very different starting eleven, however we did see Barkley and Pulisic start alongside each other in midfield.

This would also be the case in the following friendly against Salzburg, a partnership Lampard could be looking a moulding Giroud starting the game as a lone striker but was substituted at half time after not enforcing hispresence into the match. Mason Mount however grabbed a lot of the attention after scoring two goals in quick succession, after coming on at half time.

Suddenly the FPL Community went into typical frenzy as managers on Twitter discussed how they were going to fit the English youngster into their team. This scenario highlights to me the importance of actually watching football as statistics can be misleading. Mount will never score two goals in a single game with so much ease ever again.

Not because of his ability (which hopefully for England and Chelsea will shine), but for the pathetic defending of Reading, which handed Mount the goals on a plate. I understand that a player still need to be there to score the goals, but I personally would not rush to put him into my team, as a result of his brace.


Chelsea’s penultimate friendly against Salzburg was a return to a team that looks far more likely to be visiting Old Trafford this August. As mentioned Pulisic started again for his third friendly in a row, Barkley continued his partnership with the American in midfield, with Pedro completing this
particular combination since his start in Japan. These played behind Abraham, who got the nod again from Lampard to start as the lone striker.

It has been suggested that his mobility and energy is going to be approved ahead of Giroud’s experience, however Batshuayi did himself no harm as the Belgian scored a determined goal in the 88th minute. Jorginho and Kovacic returned to a central midfield partnership, ahead of the central defence paring of Luiz and Zouma.

It is important to point out that Kante had picked up an injury and had not played a single minute to this point of the pre-season. The full backs of Azpilicueta and Emerson also returned giving the impression of a settling consistent eleven.


Another impressive performance from Barkley and a brace from Pulisic would suggest that before the final friendly against Borussia Monchengladbach, that these two have cemented their play in Lampard’s team. A worrying perspective for FPL managers considering Luiz or Azpilicueta has been Chelsea struggling to keep a clean sheet. A more consistent central pairing may solve that problem, so the paring of the centre backs against Monchengladbach could prove to ease FPL managers concern.

When the team was announced for Chelsea’s last friendly of the pre-season schedule, it came of no surprise that Lampard went with the 4-2-3-1 formation. What did raise FPL manager’s eyebrows was the exclusion of Ross Barkley in the centre of midfield, replaced by Mason Mount. The inclusion of Christensen instead of Luiz would mean that Chelsea has never started with the same defence for two games in a row, throughout the whole of the summer.


David Luiz did not come off the bench for the entire match, which will have the Brazilian and FPL managers sweating as to where he is seen in Lampard’s plans to be a regular starter in the Chelsea team.
Tammy Abraham’s position as Chelsea’s first choice striker seems assured as he started yet again, scored on 59 minutes and was subbed soon after for Oliver Giroud.


Pedro and Pulisic seem to have nailed their midfield positions, with Barkley coming on for Pulisic on 66 minutes and scoring four minutes before the end. Considering the amount of pitch time Lampard has given the Liverpudlian, I would be confident that he will start ahead of Mason Mount come next week.


Azpilicueta and Emerson were named as starting full backs again, which would indicate Alonso is out of favour with Lampard for the beginning of the season. Zouma and Christensen completed the back line, but Chelsea’s inability once again to keep a clean sheet, will be a big concern for Frank Lampard and the backroom staff.

Some FPL managers may decide to ignore Chelsea’s recent poor defensive
record and select one of the most consistent FPL successes, Azpilicueta. Personally I think there are safer options for now, especially for GW1. Emerson could prove to be fantastic value at 5.5, but along with the rest of Chelsea’s defenders, I will be placing them on my watchlist.


For the first time this season, the Blue’s supporters got a glance of Kante. The Frenchman got the
last 18 minutes of game time, after coming back from injury. Lampard has spoken publicly as to
where he feels his best position is, however the opening game of the season may just come too soon
for him. Chelsea fans can give a sigh of relief however as N’Golo confirmed that he has no intention
of leaving the club, following links he was being touted to be heading to PSG.

What It All Means


To summarise, after a globetrotting set of friendly fixtures FPL managers can be confident in predicting the majority of the Chelsea first team to face Manchester United on the 11th August.

Tammy Abraham looks like he will lead the line, with Pulisic, Barkley and Pedro supporting the young Londoner in attack. Jorginho and Kovacic seem secure as a central defensive pairing, at least until Kante comes back fully
fit from his knee injury that has kept him on the side lines for the whole of the pre-season.


Azpilicueta and Emerson look set to be given the green light to police the flanks. These are fundamental positions to Lampard’s style of play. Perhaps Alonso’s defensive fragilities has cost him his place and opened the door for Emerson to continue his run in the first team.

The only grey area seems to be the centre back pairing. Lampard has declared his willingness to give youth an opportunity. With a season of Premier League experience behind him at Everton, it looks like Zouma will get the nod and the opportunity to hold down a place in the Chelsea team. With Antonio Rudiger still not back injury it is not clear if Luiz or Christensen will join Kurt Zouma at the back.


Lampard’s wish to play high pressure, quick tempo football would suggest young players with pace and energy will get an opportunity this season. There may be significant rotation this year at Stamford Bridge as energy levels will be tested and Chelsea have a sizable squad to cope with the
rigours of Champions League football, along with a domestic campaign.


Upon asking Lampard after the final friendly if he knew his team for Sunday, the new Chelsea manager replied, “More or less. Again it’s a long week and I don’t want to say that because I think players have to train every day to get themselves in the team or get themselves out of the team.

The door isn’t shut any way on that and we’ll need all the squad. We need players to be competitive and we need players who aren’t playing to come on like Giroud today and show a desire to come on and impact the game with work rate and desire to try and turn the result. That’s what we need throughout the season and I want to set that tone going into it.”

Article happily written by FPL Rubber Ducky

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