Pressure on Lampard to Succeed

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Chelsea begin their Premier League campaign with an away fixture at Brighton and Hove Albion. The Blues will be expected to win the match but regardless of the result in that opening game, Chelsea’s season will be defined by their final position in the Premier League table.

Last season, Frank Lampard got the best out of his squad to guide Chelsea to a top four finish and a place in the Champions League. They finished well behind Premier League winners Liverpool but given the fact Lampard could not sign any new players, the season was deemed a huge success for Lampard and Chelsea.

This summer, things have changed in terms of the transfer market and Chelsea have been extremely busy. They have made some significant additions to their squad including winger Hakim Ziyech, forward Timo Werner, attacking midfielder Kai Havertz, left-back Ben Chilwell, and centre-back Thiago Silva.

Brazilian defender, Silva, arrived on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain but the other four players cost a significant amount of money. In fact, Chelsea have spent more than £200 million on players this summer, which is a significant outlay, especially in comparison to other teams in the Premier League.

The incoming players have caused a great deal of excitement among Chelsea fans ahead of the new campaign. There is no doubting the individual quality of Ziyech, Werner, Havertz, Chilwell, and Silva but will they be able to gel together quickly as a team and deliver the goods in the Premier League?

One of the great aspects of Chelsea’s 2019/20 season was the significant contribution by young players already at the club. Tammy Abraham, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fikayo Tomori, Mason Mount, Callum Hudson-Odoi, and Reece James all had a part to play in the successful season, some more than others. Abraham, Tomori, Mount, and Hudson-Odoi are four men who will be looking at the new signings and feeling as though they may not be required anywhere near as often this season in the Premier League.

There are other competitions where they are sure to be included, such as the FA Cup and League Cup. However, that is highly unlikely to satisfy them and it will be interesting to see how Lampard copes when players become unhappy due to their lack of game time in the Premier League and Champions League.

Not only will Lampard be feeling the pressure from players within his own squad, he will know the chairman will be looking on having spent a significant amount of money and expecting big results. Finishing fourth will not be good enough for Chelsea this season and they will need to be pushing for the title considering the amount of money they have spent in the transfer window. The players added to the squad have the potential to do great things in the Premier League and Champions League this season but Lampard is the man who has to bring the best out of them.

If Chelsea fall behind the Premier League leaders going into Christmas, it will be interesting to see how the club respond. Lampard is under pressure to deliver the goods this season and anything other than a push for the title will be a failure.