Dilemma; lost in the deep blue Sea.

It's the business end of the football calendar with the transfer window wide open. A time when teams seek to build or rebuild, cast away or unlock. 

The summer transfer window is one of two windows where clubsides seek to sell or buy players either to improve their squads or balance their books. 

It's a period when excitements and expectations start to well and this is very evident in the hearts of fans of the blue Lions of London (The pride of London, they call themselves). 

A window which has seen players like Willian and Pedro depart the club to Arsenal and the Serie A respectively and in their place top qualities like Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech and Kai Havertz (deal in final stages, alongside that of Thiago Silva and Chilwell); coupled with the numerous quality players already at the club, it's enough reason to know why fans and critics alike have been clamouring for a pay rise for Marina Granovskaia (Director at Chelsea/Transfer Chief).

On paper it does look like the team to beat not only in England but the whole of Europe. With firepower like Werner who was second to no one but Lewandowski in the Bundesliga, Havertz; tagged by many as the next Muller due to his versatility and great efficiency in those roles and Ziyech, a name which has become synonymous with creativity in recent years. It's indeed a team laced with very fine players.

But as we've seen over the years as fans and students, especially at Real Madrid, it's enough to sign top players if you want to play good football and compete for trophies but to win those silverwares, the importance of a manager who knows just how to maximize those players cannot be overemphasized. 

Is Frank the man to lead this team? For me, yes. He's shown us enough to believe in him and give him his much needed time but right now all that'll be passing through his mind is how he can find that balance.

Finding the balance/ Possible formations;

It's necessary for Frank Lampard to find out the right tactic or management skill like the Zidanes and Flicks of this world to employ in managing these players to achieve the desired result, trophies. 

Over the season we've seen lampard shuffle between 2 centre halves and 3; using 3 defenders mostly to make up for their defensive frailties. It's unknown if he'll continue with this seeing there are lots of options to choose from upfront.

3-5-2 ; Zouma/Christensen, Thiago Silva, Cesar/Rudiger, Reece James, Chilwell/Alonso, Kante/Jorginho, Kovacic/Barkley, Havertz/Mount, Werner and Giroud/Pulisic

If lampard should opt for this then the balance will be tilted more to the defensive side meaning Chelsea will defend better but will score lesser. Plus it's not a formation to accommodate all Chelsea's newbies. A sight many faithfuls aren't excited about. 

3-4-3; Zouma/Christensen, Thiago, Cesar/Rudiger, James, Chilwell/Alonso, Kante/Jorginho, Kovacic/Barkley, Ziyech/Mount, Giroud/Tammy, Werner/Pulisic. 

Here we'll have Werner coming in from the left and Giroud playing central (which is key for linkup plays and seeing that Werner does far better when he plays together with another centre forward). This set up is slightly more balanced than the previous but then creativity becomes a flaw as a huge chunk of that will be left to Ziyech. Plus it doesn't accommodate the whole lot which leaves us with the last option; 

4-2-3-1 or 4-2-1-3; Zouma/Cesar, Thiago/Christensen, James, Chilwell/Alonso, Kante/Jorginho, Kovacic/Barkley, Havertz/Cheek, Ziyech, Pulisic/Hudson Odoi, Giroud/Werner. 

This looks like the best bet seeing that it's set-up to their strength which is their attacking prowess and at the same time offering good defensive cover (Kante and Kovacic as pivot). What is left is how fast these players can gel with one another(on the pitch) but they can take a cue from Bruno Fernandes who needed just a game to adapt to the Premier league before dropping our jaws in awe.

With many young players in the squad he wouldn't need to caress many egos but again his man management skills should be top notch to keep every player of the team hungry and willing to impress.

Objectives;

I don't think the objective for Frank's men this season is to just compete, No. They did that last season; in the Prem they did compete, not for the league but top 4, FA cup, they got to the finals, Carabao, they lost to a good side in United, UCL, there's no shame in being beat by eventual winners and Flick's men Bayern Munich. So it's not about competing anymore but winning a trophy. Whichever it is and that'll be a big metric to determine if lampard keeps his job come season end; if he does get there.

Conclusion; 

With the new Premier league season commencing on the 12th of September, fans, haters, critics and neutrals will all have their radar focused on the blues. To watch magic if possible as that is what their signings have made us expect.

But in the end we all know things hardly go as planned on paper but hopefully we get to see the beauty of Dutch football, ruthlessness of the Germans, intelligence of the Spaniards, effectiveness of the French and flair of the English all in one package. 

The pressure is starting to heap on his shoulders, Frank and hopefully he can swim against the tides and deliver. He did a good job when no one rated him, now let's see how he'll fare when all eyes are on him. 

Credits; Mike Udeh.

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