There’s no question that Chelsea’s trip to Manchester City will be Frank Lampard’s biggest test of his young managerial career so far.
He may have faced Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp twice and come up agonisingly short in both games, but facing a Pep Guardiola side, especially away from home, is as tough as it gets in world football.
The Spaniard is a master tactician, who can exploit weaknesses in opponents and punish naivety if an opposing manager fails to set up his team in the right way.
We saw first-hand last season when the Blues were hammered 6-0 by City after Maurizio Sarri’s kamikaze approach to pressing high at the Etihad Stadium. The Italian mended his ways in the Carabao Cup final but not before a chastening lesson at the hands of the former Barcelona and Bayern head coach.
So will Lampard be as naive as Sarri was? Jose Mourinho has his concerns. The Portuguese says he worries that Chelsea have lost in every match against a traditional ‘big six’ side this season.
If you look at the fixtures, there is a grain of truth in Mourinho’s argument. The Blues have had their most convincing wins against lowly ranked opponents. When they have been tested, their backline has conceded and given away easy goals such as the 4-0 defeat away to Manchester United, and the recent 4-4 draw versus Ajax.
However, results do not tell the full story. If you had watched the full 90 minutes of the opening day defeat to United, it was clear that Chelsea were the dominant team but failed to put away their chances. Naive play and poor defending were exploited by the Red Devils.
The fear was that the same would happen in the UEFA Super Cup Final but Lampard showed his tactical nous by changing his system. He sat deeper and used N’Golo Kante to lead the press. They may have lost on penalties but the Blues had many chances to win the game outright in 90 minutes.
In the corresponding league fixture, Chelsea should have got at least a draw out of the game at Stamford Bridge, as they were knocking on the door throughout the second half.
Both games showed that Lampard is adaptable and can set up a team that can deal with high pressing teams like City. A deeper defensive line to reduce gaps and a lightning-quick counter-attack is something he will need to employ once more this weekend.
Guardiola’s side do go into the game off the back of a defeat at Anfield but the 3-1 loss was not all that it seemed. They had more shots and more possession away at Liverpool than any other side this season.
Lampard has shown already this campaign he is flexible in how he approaches matches and the game at the Etihad on Sunday will determine how talented this young manager actually is.
