Chelsea Season Preview
Chelsea’s decision to appoint club legend Frank Lampard as their new manager marks a new chapter at Stamford Bridge. The Blues’ all-time leading scorer takes charge in the wake of a polarizing season under Maurizio Sarri, who was always at odds with the club’s supporters despite leading Chelsea to a third-place finish in the Premier League and a Europa League final triumph over Arsenal. Swapping Sarri and his trademark possession-oriented style for a club icon, who has just one year of managerial experience, suggests that anything is possible in the 2019/20 season. Chelsea’s transfer ban means former castaways Tammy Abraham, Michy Batshuayi and Kurt Zouma will finally get opportunities to impress. Youngsters such as Mason Mount, who excelled on loan at Derby under Lampard, and Reece James will also factor into long-term plans. Still, pressing questions remain. What will Chelsea look like without Eden Hazard? Are Christian Pulisic, Callum Hudson-Odoi, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek ready to be central figures? Will Lampard prefer a consistent XI or opt to use a rotation? And how does this impact the team from a fantasy perspective? The rest of this preview is fantasy focused and provides an overview of the players to consider in FPL and Fantrax leagues (Togga scoring) for the 2019/20 Premier League season.
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Manager Profile
Lampard exceeded expectations in his debut managerial season by leading Derby County to the Championship Play-Off Final after finishing sixth in the table. The 41-year-old began the season with a 4-1-4-1, relying on the front five to generate chances through interplay and off-ball runs. Derby entered in February sitting in a playoff spot, but floating around the middle of the pack with both goals scored and conceded. In their first 29 games, they scored 40 goals and conceded 37. The flaw that ultimately produced his change in tactics was the absence of a link between the attack and the defense. With each group operating as separate units, the fullbacks were rendered useless, always drifting in positional limbo between trying to get forward and dropping back in defense. From February on, Lampard shifted to a 4-2-3-1, which would take a different shape in each phase of the game. Without the ball, it resembled a 4-5-1 with a high defensive line. When building in possession, the central midfielders would drop deep while the fullbacks would push forward, producing a much smoother, unified transition into the final third. The tactical alteration saw Derby score 29 goals and conceded 17 goals in their last 17 matches. The success didn’t, however, render Lampard close-minded. We saw an attack-minded 4-3-3 at times and, most notably, a 4-4-2 diamond in both legs of the play-off final against Leeds.
Goalkeepers
Kepa will be the number one this season -- no question about it. The young Spaniard, who became the most expensive goalkeeper in world football history last summer, kept 14 clean sheets and conceded just 39 in his debut season. Kepa did concede 3+ goals three times, but two of those occasions were at Manchester City and Tottenham. However, in FPL, the 23-year-old doesn’t do it for me. Chelsea looked exposed throughout the pre-season, plus David De Gea, Jordan Pickford, and Lloris are all better choices at 5.5m. He’s not a bad shout in Fantrax since his current ADP is seventh amongst all goalkeeper. Behind him, veteran Willy Caballero will serve as the number two.
Defenders
The Frank Lampard era marks the third in as many seasons that Chelsea will have a new defensive scheme. In terms of structure, you can expect to see a traditional back four. This shape was ever-present during his time at Derby and continued through to all the recent pre-season matches. The most significant difference between the Lampard defense and his predecessors’ is the presence of a counter-press in the opposition’s half. This tactic requires the entire team to defend as a unit. With the defenders and midfielders push up to condense the space behind the wingers and attacking midfielders. While being vulnerable on the counter are growing pains of this system, Chelsea conceded 11 goals in pre-season, with eight of them coming in the final three matches. The 4-3 win over Reading also highlights a real cause for concern from set-pieces, as the Championship quite literally had their way with their marks on almost every dead ball situation. The aerial issue will be addressed when Antonio Rüdiger returns to full fitness after being sidelined with a meniscus injury. The German international’s absence for the trip to Old Trafford will likely result in starts for Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen, with David Luiz likely heading to Arsenal.
Chelsea isn’t my first choice when it comes to defenders in FPL. Wing play is a crucial part of Lampard’s possession philosophy, which does give the fullbacks value. That being said, Marcos Alonso is priced up at 6.5m. César Azpilicueta is cheaper and, though he will get forward, the Spaniard will likely end up spending most of the season operating as the deeper of the two fullbacks. I am higher on Alonso and Azpilicueta in Fantrax leagues since the pair are the only defenders to have finished inside the top-10 during each of the last three seasons. There is a growing narrative that Emerson could vulture the starting left-back spot this season, as he saw more minutes than Alonso throughout pre-season. This didn’t deter me from drafting Alonso in one of my 12-team leagues, but I did use a late pick on Emerson to avoid an opening day headache. It is also worth noting that youngster Reece James is expected to serve as the preferred backup to Azpilicueta.
Midfielders
The midfield has been the most common talking point this summer. Lampard has experimented with a few different shapes in pre-season, but the 4-2-3-1 seems like the construction we will see first. This formation allows Lampard to utilize his deepest position from a talent perspective. Jorginho and Matteo Kovacic will operate as the deep-lying pair, with N’Golo Kante still working his way back from a lingering hamstring injury. The trio of advanced midfielders will feature Christian Pulisic and Pedro out wide, though the latter will find himself under pressure from both Willian and Callum Hudson-Odoi once they return to full fitness. The central attacking midfield is the most contested position battle, with Ross Barkley and Mason Mount coming off very strong pre-seasons. Lampard is no stranger to Mount having relied on the youngster as his number 10 at Derby, but Barkley’s a newfound level of poise seems to have him ahead in the pecking order-at least for now. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who is recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon, will complicate things even further when he returns towards the start of the 2020 calendar year. Should additional injuries come into play, Kenedy could also work his way into the picture.
With the pool of players in contention for regular minutes laid out, we finally arrive at the biggest trial facing Lampard this season—replacing Eden Hazard. Hazard was unquestionably Chelsea’s best player during his seven years at Stamford Bridge and the best player in the Premier League last season. By scoring 15 goals and providing 16 assists, the Belgian played a direct hand on 49.2% of Chelsea’s goals. He also ranked second in the league in key passes (98) and came eighth in shots (93). In short, the only way to replace Hazard is to cover his production by committee. With Lampard’s system emphasizing building through the wings and generating chances from the byline, the wingers have the highest upside from a template standpoint. This puts Pulisic, the most expensive Chelsea player in FPL, in a position to make some serious noise in his debut campaign. A tenacious dribble with an attacking IQ beyond his years, the United States international arrives having had success in a similar system at Borussia Dortmund. If you’re looking for a midfielder with production grounded by assists, Pulisic represents a good option at 7.5m. The cheapest option is Barkley, whose ownership will likely surpass 8.0% by the time the season kicks off on Friday. If he can rekindle the form we saw at Everton, he could be a steal at 6.0m.
Forwards
The situation up front is open to interpretation. If the starting XI Lampard used in the final pre-season friendly is any indication of what will see in GW1, then Tammy Abraham will be leading the attack. Abraham started the last two friendlies and played more minutes in pre-season than both Olivier Giroud and Michy Batshuayi. The 21-year-old goes into the season with much to prove despite scoring 25 goals for Aston Villa in the Championship. This isn’t Abraham’s first crack at making a name for himself in the Premier League. Two years ago, the frontman joined Swansea City on loan after scoring 23 goals for Bristol City in the Championship. Since Abraham didn’t have much help at Swansea, we won’t focus on the fact that all of his vital attacking statistics regressed at an alarming rate. The fact that Lampard is building for the future means Abraham will likely see enough starts to be an option in FPL. But, since Lampard has a proven target-man in Giroud at his disposal, there is a good chance the forwards will rotate throughout the season. Until we see how the first few matches go, FPL managers should avoid Chelsea’s strikers.
