With an average age of 24 years and 208 days, Chelsea fielded their youngest team since 1994 in their win over Norwich in August. The performances of these youngsters, particularly Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori and Mason Mount have both galvanised fans and showed the football world that Chelsea’s re-build is well and truly underway. With plenty more young talent waiting in the wings, could the blistering start of these young Englishmen signify the start of a new era at Stamford Bridge?
Up until the start of this season, the trio had made just three Premier League appearances for Chelsea between them. Indeed, the only one with any real top level experience is Tammy Abraham whose 8 goal haul for Swansea City in 2017/18 was enough to earn him a fleeting visit to the England national team.
The bulk of their cumulative experience therefore has been spent in the Championship where all three excelled last season. Abraham bagged an impressive 25 league goals at Villa Park, Tomori was virtually ever present in the Derby back four, whilst Mount’s ability was clear for all to see in the Rams’ ill-fated promotion push under Frank Lampard. It was to be Tomori’s real break out season, whereas Abraham had put his name on the map two seasons earlier with Bristol City, and Mount likewise when he dazzled as an 18-year-old with Vitesse Arnhem.
Chelsea boss Lampard, clearly feeling the need to capitalise on the trio’s quickening development threw Mount and Abraham straight into the starting line up on the opening weekend. Despite a 4-0 humbling at Old Trafford, he has stuck with his youngsters whilst also phasing Tomori into the side in recent weeks, and his persistence is beginning to pay dividends.
Abraham followed up his consecutive braces against Sheffield United and Norwich with a high-quality hat-trick at Molineux this weekend, leaving him as the joint top scorer in the league after 5 games. The mathematicians amongst us will also have worked out that Abraham has a mind-boggling 7 goals in his last 3 games. Against Wolves he displayed a broad attacking skill-set that suggests the 21-year-old is ready to lead the line for Chelsea all season long.
Mount meanwhile has notched three goals of his own from an advanced midfield position whilst showing poise, composure and the kind of nimble footwork that makes you wonder why he was consigned to the Championship in the first place. His performances have put him right in the mix for an England starting spot as he made his senior three lions debut during the international break. Meanwhile, 21-year-old Fikayo Tomori has started the last two games at centre-back. His athleticism, competence on the ball and 30-yard wonder-strike against Wolves stand him in good stead to maintain his spot in the side.
What is even more promising for Chelsea are the youngsters that have not yet fully made their mark. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, currently sidelined with an Achilles injury, has been starved of game time so far in his Chelsea career and the 23-year-old will be gagging to impress under the new manager. Christian Pulisic celebrates his 21st birthday this week and the much-hyped American youngster has not yet stamped his authority on the Chelsea attack. Callum Hudson-Odoi’s long awaited return from injury will see him flirt with the starting lineup, and still at just 18-years-old he is one of England’s hottest prospects. Elsewhere, highly regarded teenagers Reece James and Ethan Ampadu patiently await game-time opportunities but both are tipped for greatness.
What does this mean for Chelsea?
The fact that new manager Frank Lampard has chosen to put so much trust into his youngsters shows that the foundations are being laid for a future title challenge at Stamford Bridge. There is no doubt that Chelsea have an objectively lower quality squad than last season, but the time of putting sticking plasters on open wounds (e.g. the curious loan signing of Gonzalo Higuain) appears to be over. Lampard’s task is to build from the bottom, to take one step back in order to progress further, and the Chelsea of 2019/20 is very much a team in prospect.
The fact that Chelsea are currently being portrayed in this light ultimately takes a large bulk of the pressure off them in the short term. Any fair-minded blues fan knows that a top 4 place is more of a hope than an expectation, and that a top 6 finish will represent a positive season if it is coupled with several youth talents cementing themselves as top flight stars. The reality is that Chelsea have a young, inexperienced team and fans should find excitement in the progress that this new-look side is expected to make in seasons to come.
For Lampard himself, there were many pre-season questions about whether he had taken the job at the wrong time. However, in the absence of a Hazard, Drogba or John Terry type figure Chelsea are not expected to lift the Premier League trophy when May rolls around. Realistically, the absence of global superstars and presence of youth should mean that the board will evaluate Lampard’s performance at the end of the season with more leniency than with previous managers, and the fact that all 11 goals scored under his tenure so far have come from youth players that he himself has promoted to the first team does him no harm either. After all, who can be expected to win anything with kids?
Let’s not forget that whilst Tomori, Mount and Abraham were playing in Chelsea’s youth ranks, Lampard was being hailed as a God on the Stamford Bridge terraces. He is a manager that the emerging superstars can look up to and get behind. The results are not setting records but there is a sense of togetherness in South-West London, epitomised by Abraham’s post-match interview after his side’s 5-2 victory at Wolves this Saturday; “We were the last three out on the pitch today [Mount, Tomori & himself], we could not believe we had all scored in the same game for Chelsea”. After gaining a reputation for fielding starting line-ups devoid of English players, this could indeed be a new and exciting era at Stamford Bridge.
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