Firstly, I have to confirm that I adore what is going on at Chelsea. We have a club-legend-manager who is proving to be entirely competent, a glut of young talents finally showing their incredible worth, and a widely praised style of attacking football. Win or lose, it feels like these are halcyon times for Chelsea.
However, with so much positive feeling emanating from the club, a note of caution ought to be sounded. What Lampard has accomplished in his so far brief stewardship is impressive, but how much more work is needed before Chelsea challenges for the biggest cups?
In my view, there are three characteristics that define a truly great team: Identity, Quality and Consistency.
So where does Lampard's Chelsea stand against these qualities?
IDENTITY
Having a certified identity, or style of play, is important because it makes a team greater than the sum of its parts. This is evident because teams with lesser players can overcome the odds if they have a well practised mode of play and/or a cunning plan. If a team has an identity it plays like a team and thus benefits commensurately.
The most admirable aspect of Lampard's tenure so far has been his ability to impose a clear identity on his charges. Chelsea play forward with urgency, press high and work extremely hard. They play a possession game with purpose and verve. In this sense Lampard has planted the seeds of a dominant team that piles on relentless pressure.
QUALITY
Typically, the most successful teams have the best players. Unfortunately, Chelsea does not have the best. Although the likes of Rudiger, Kante, Jorginho and Willian constitute a sprinkling of experienced and excellent players, they are fast being overwhelmed by the youth. These players, like James, Pulisic and Hudson-Odoi, have played very well but are ultimately unproven. If they and the others blossom into the players they are expected to become, Chelsea can look forward to fielding one of the best teams in Europe at some point in the next ten years. However, that blissful state is not now.
The most concerning sector of this Chelsea team is the defence. As young players, it isn't surprising to see Zouma and Tomori have a few mistakes in them. However, going forward we can see that Kurt's physique and Fikayo's heroics contain immense promise. Chelsea's quality really falls down in the full-back area. Azpilicueta has been a hero, but his powers are fading both going forward and back. His crossing is appalling and defensive mistakes are creeping into his game. Crosses going over his head seem to invariably result in concessions. On the other side, we have Alonso. He can only be described as lumbering - his only qualities being taller than his winger counterpart and scoring odd goals.
The best teams have great full-backs - Chelsea doesn't. James shows huge promise and should begin starting ahead of Azpilicueta soon, and hopefully Emerson can prove to be more enterprising and energetic than Alonso.
CONSISTENCY
To win the biggest trophies a team must perform at a high level every single game. They must attack effectively, expecting to score every game, and defend well, expecting to concede no more than one goal if any, every game.
Alas Chelsea are nowhere near achieving such a state of consistency. Although Chelsea's success thus far cannot be underestimated, it is also true that they have rarely owned a match in its entirety. Perhaps the most consistent things about Chelsea right now is their penchant for conceding goals. Obviously, this is mitigated by scoring more than the opponent, but this attitude is historically catastrophic. Having to score three goals to get a result every game is surely not the challenge Lampard is setting his players.
Furthermore, Chelsea have failed to get positive results against any 'big' team. I suspect this trend will persist throughout the season because we cannot be relied upon to keep clean sheets. Games against the best are often tight, where the margins come into play. Being consistent demands beating both the better and lesser teams since the three points are always the same.
Finally, Chelsea's home record isn't impressive. The most successful teams have crushing home records that intimidate opponents. At this juncture, my feeling is that teams coming to Stamford Bridge know there's a result to be had. This expectation must be deflated emphatically if home games are to be profited from in the long-run.
Overall then, Chelsea have a long journey to travel before the major trophies return. Nevertheless, the future is bright. The young players will eventually infest the entire England team. And with great players playing a particular way as a team, the consistency will follow.
KTBFFH
