The frequent international breaks give Chelsea coach, Frank Lampard the chance to work on the squad and build on a promising run for the upcoming months. These international games allow the Chelsea coach to do enough homework and this has shown in the latest games of Chelsea.
Since losing to Tottenham in the Carabao Cup, his team is yet to lose and is embarking on an eight-game unbeaten streak with back to back clean sheets. Lampard although will hope to see their players coming without being injured as well as the down the pecking order players will have the opportunity to catch his eyes with their displays.
The players need to up their game and show Lamaprd that they can perform when being called in absence of star players amidst this congested schedule. Chelsea has upcoming games ahead against Tottenham and Leeds United while they will play Rennes and Sevilla in the Champions League group stage match.
These four players who have fallen down the pecking order can be very useful in Lamaprd’s rotation and they must step up their game.
Fikayo Tomori
Everton was keen to sign this 22-year-old defender but the deal didn’t materialize and since then he hasn’t got any minutes under Lampard. Thiago Silva’s arrival has made it more worse as he went further down the pecking order since the Tottenham defeat. His only display came in the loss against Liverpool where Lampard was forced to bring him on after the red card of Christensen.
After the 4-1 win against Sheffield United, the coach although spoke of Tomori and assured that he will get minutes and he is still in his plans.
Cesar Azpilicueta
Azpilicueta is Chelsea’s captain and the right-back serving for the Blues. The right-back is very dependable and has been playing from the times when Lampard donned the Blue jersey. But the performance of the youngster, Reece James has seen him getting unused in most of the matches- a scenario which he isn’t accustomed to.
The 31-year-old defender played the full game against Krasnodar in UCL but since then, he hasn’t featured in any of the three matches. He is slowly getting out of favor and if he doesn’t use the coming opportunities he will be a forgotten man in Chelsea.
The Spanish international will be watched over by Lampard and the coach will see how he reacts to the strong competition given by Reece James for the position. Nevertheless, Azpi has quite the experience and can lead the defence. So, he might be of use during the rotation phase and Lampard will hope that he delivers what is being expected.
Marcos Alonso
Alonso was the first-choice left-back for Chelsea and featured in the initial back to back games until Ben Chilwell recovered from injury. However, the 29-year-old has not featured ever since Chelsea had a 3-3 draw with West Brom.
Alonso had a furious spat with Lampard at the Hawthorns after his unprofessional attitude. He has returned to the squad and only good performances can rise him up the pecking order. He needs to up his performance and utilizes every opportunity he will have.
Alonso was there on the bench as a substitute as Chelsea beat Rennes. Emerson Palmieri got the chance as Ben Chilwell make way for him. He needs to work very hard in order to get minutes in this star-studded team.
Christian Pulisic
Pulisic has continued his recovery from the hamstring injury that made him unavailable for the previous three games for Chelsea. It is of no surprise that the attacking players have well taken their chance and performed very well in his absence. He is the main man of the team but if it continues like this on the sidelines, it won’t be long enough that he will gradually fade out of the starting XI.
The injury came three days after Pulisic netted his first goal of the season in the victory against Krasnodar. It seems although he has recovered from the injury and is in the lineup to feature as well. Pulisic was crucial in the latter stages of the previous season and Lampard expects that kind of form from him.
The coach hopes to have all of his attacking options at his disposal for the upcoming games and hold the momentum to win big this season.
