Chelsea half-term report: Lampard runs out of time & excuses after £220m splurge

Chelsea celebrated hitting the halfway stage of the Premier League season by parting ways with manager Frank Lampard.

Any suggestion his status as a club legend would save him from the axe was proven wrong. Given previous managers’ plights, Lampard – who has the worst points-per-game record of any manager during Roman Abramovich’s reign – can have few complaints.

Indeed, unlike the majority Chelsea managers before him, he could hardly point to a great managerial track record to prove he could turn things around either.

He performed adequately as Derby County boss, guiding them to the play-off final, but his promotion to manager of one of the biggest and most successful clubs in England felt premature.

After doing a decent job in his first season in charge, guiding Chelsea to fourth in the table after a summer where they faced a transfer ban, the pressure ramped up after spending more than £220million.

Expectations, put simply, have not been met.

Chelsea managers Premier League points per game under Abramovich

2.31 – Avram Grant
2.19 – Jose Mourinho
2.14 – Antonio Conte
2.07 – Carlo Ancelotti
1.96 – Luis Felipe Scolari
1.96 – Rafa Benitez
1.94 – Guus Hiddink
1.89 – Maurizio Sarri
1.83 – Roberto Di Matteo
1.82 – Claudio Ranieri
1.70 – Andre Villas-Boas
1.67 – Frank Lampard

Thomas Tuchel, the former Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain manager, is the man tasked to pick up the pieces. He will arrive with Chelsea lying ninth in the Premier League table.

There is still hope that this season can be resurrected. Chelsea are on course to reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup after a generous draw saw them beat Morecombe and Luton Town, with Barnsley to come in the fifth round, while they are in the last-16 of the Champions League – their first knockout opponents, La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid, are unlikely to be such pushovers.

Here Metro.co.uk reviews Chelsea’s season so far.

Best signing: Ben Chilwell

Two goals and four assists from left-back is not to be sniffed at and the England international continues to establish himself as the most exciting full-backs in the country.

With most of Chelsea’s other summer arrivals yet to make the grade, Chilwell has been the standout performer, with Thiago Silva an honourable second.

Worst signing: Kai Havertz

There’s certainly more competition in this category.

Timo Werner has lost his shooting boots after a solid start, Eduoard Mendy has started to look a serious liability after initially appearing to be a major upgrade on the hapless Kepa Arrizabalaga and Hakim Ziyech has only started seven of their 19 league matches.

But none compare to the disastrous signing of Kai Havertz.

Ranking Chelsea’s summer signings from best to worst so far

Chelsea spent £72m up front to bring the Germany international to Stamford Bridge but he’s struggled to adapt to English football.

Working out his best position has proven a major challenge for Lampard, who has tried him as a No. 10, on the wing and in midfield. Frankly, he’s been largely useless wherever he’s played!

It is, of course, worth remembering he is only 21 but he’ll need to start showing more than brief flashes of quality if he’s going to avoid becoming one of their most expensive flops of all time.

Strongest XI

The back four had been pretty settled until Antonio Rudiger displaced Kurt Zouma recently, while Mendy remains the best of a bad bunch in goal.

N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic are the strongest central midfield options available to the club, while Mason Mount – a favourite of Lampard’s – has been a consistent performer.

Christian Pulisic has struggled to hit the heights of the end of last season but is still the most exciting attacker in the ranks, while Ziyech looks a safe pair of hands when fit – even if Callum Hudson-Odoi is improving by the week.

As for the man to lead the line, Olivier Giroud remains Mr. Reliable, despite Tammy Abraham topping the scoring charts this season.

For the time being, it’s hard to make a case for big-money signings Werner and Havertz being included.

Best performance: Chelsea 3-1 Leeds

The outstanding performance of the season was undoubtedly a 4-0 away win against Sevilla in the Champions League, but I’m restricted to Premier League options for this category.

Chelsea are yet to beat any of the so-called ‘Big Six’ sides in the league this season and have generally struggled against top-level opposition.

Victory over Leeds, where they fought back from an early goal down, was perhaps their most accomplished, although there haven’t been too many great days to shout about.

Worst performance: Arsenal 3-1 Chelsea

Arguably the turning point in the reigns of two young managers in charge of elite sides.

Mikel Arteta appeared on the brink of the sack after failing to find a win in seven straight Premier League matches.

His Arsenal side hammered a lacklustre Chelsea on Boxing Day, however, to kickstart their climb up the table.

The Blues, meanwhile, have won one league match since, against 10-man Fulham.

Target for the season

Has the landscape really changed for Chelsea? Not really.

Despite their evident struggles, they remain just five points off the Champions League spots – hardly an insurmountable gap.

The title is surely beyond them but cup glory – be it domestically or in Europe – combined with a top-four finish would represent a truly excellent start to Tuchel’s reign.

More generally, getting the best out of Werner and Havertz would represent significant progress for their compatriot Tuchel. That could require a rethink of the current system.

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