"You've got to give credit to Lampard" - Sky Sports pundit makes massive Chelsea prediction

Last week was perhaps one of the best for Chelsea since Frank Lampard took over as manager in the summer.

After losing against Liverpool 2-1 two Sundays ago, the Blues bounced back with an emphatic 7-1 win in the League Cup against Grimsby Town, before beating Brighton 2-0 in the Premier League. The latter was the Stamford Bridge outfit’s first home league victory of the campaign, whilst it also their first clean sheet.

Chelsea’s youngsters were once again on show, with Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori all starting and Callum Hudson-Odoi coming on from the bench.

Former Arsenal player Paul Merson was talking about the younger stars on Soccer Saturday (via The Express) and he was glowing in his appraisal of them, summing up the optimism currently at the club.

The transfer sanction has curtailed the Blues’ ability to bring in new faces, but it has ended up being a blessing in disguise. After so many years of promise and positive results amongst the side’s youth teams, we are finally seeing the fruits of the hard work done by the academy’s coaching staff at Stamford Bridge in senior football.

Of course, Mount, Abraham and Tomori are the ones who have really benefited so far, but we are yet to truly see what Hudson-Odoi and Reece James can do. They were impressive against Grimsby – both were on the scoresheet – but they have plenty more to offer against better opposition. Also, Ruben Loftus-Cheek has been unable to play due to an injury sustained in May. He will no doubt bring even more quality to the side when he eventually returns.

There are currently 14 members of the first-team squad who are aged 25 or younger. That, if anything, just goes to show how well prepared Chelsea are for the future.

This transfer ban should boost the south-west London team’s coffers for next summer, allowing Lampard to add the one or two world-class players he needs to improve the squad even further. Coupled with the ability of those already at Stamford Bridge, the future does look incredibly bright in SW6.

from FootballFanCast.com https://ift.tt/2oOi1r7