This season have been quite a quick turnaround for Frank Lampard and his young Chelsea side. They began the season with a heavy defeat against Man United away at Old Trafford and was considered not ready yet to challenge at the top. However, things began to change as Frank Lampard clearly had an idea of football in his mind, believing in his young team filled with academy players to learn quickly and execute the way he wants his team to play. This didn’t take too long before Chelsea began to kick into gear, dropping points here and there but always stock to the system and the young players kept on proving that they have the qualities and the mentality to play at a high level.
Chelsea form so far have been superb, winning their last 6 premier league games and heading into the international break with a win and a clean sheet against Crystal Palace. The Blues face a huge test, one of their biggest games of the season against Man City when the premier league actions return in 2 weeks’ time. With the return of Ngolo Kante from injury and how fabulous he was against Crystal Palace, it has raised a lot of talking points concerning where he will play and who will be dropped to accommodate the world-class Kante considering how good the midfield trio of Jorginho, Kovacic and Mount have been recently.
This is a huge headache for Frank Lampard in their next fixture against City, even though managers prefer to have this kind of headache as it shows that every player is putting up top-quality performances. Chelsea face Man City at the Etihad after the international break, a game that promises to an exciting one between two attack-minded teams. Man City just lost against Liverpool at Anfield, so it will be exciting to see how they react against Chelsea who are in a very good form at the moment.
Frank Lampard will have a big decision to make when every player returns from international duties as they prepare for the huge test at the Etihad. If everyone is fit to play, he will have to decide who to leave out from the starting 11 against Man City and choose his best 3 man midfield to play. Mount who the manager likes a lot from their days at Derby County, Kante who is currently the only true world-class player at Chelsea that can walk into any team in world football and be in the first 11 of any team (he is that good). He has improved a lot, all thanks to Sarri who helped him discover other parts of his game and also improve his all-round play. Frank Lampard has also noticed that there is more to Kante’s game than just a defensive midfielder or a destroyer, Joginho who have been superb under Frank Lampard and have greatly improved a lot and has been given the freedom to express himself on the pitch rather than the fixed position he played all through his playing time under Sarri and Kovacic who have also improved a lot under Frank Lampard and have created a fabulous partnership alongside Jorginho in the Chelsea midfield.
It is a huge headache for any manager to drop players who are performing very well… However, Lampard has the option to play all 4 players in the same starting 11 but it means that he will have to drop one of the wingers to accommodate Mason Mount who is the only player among the 4 that has the characteristics and can play on the wings. Pulisic and Willian are in superb form as well, so there is no easy way out for Frank Lampard :)… We all have to wait and see his formation and preferred starting 11 when premier league actions return after the international break.
What do you think… What is your preferred midfield trio for Chelsea against Man City?
I would love to read your thoughts and opinions… Enjoy your day.
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