After losses to Arsenal and Manchester City, Frank Lampard looks to be under pressure, and Massimiliano Allegri could be the man to replace him.
The highly publicised and very expensive signings he made in the summer don’t seem to be playing at their best. Whether it’s the system, the manager or indeed the players, something needs to change.
Knowing the history of Chelsea football club, it’s usually the manager who gets the chop. If indeed, Lampard does get the sack, a solution could be former Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri.
Vastly decorated and highly experienced, he is everything Lampard isn’t as a manager. At Juventus, he turned the Old Lady into a truly dominating force once again. His tactical setup could be perfect for Chelsea, particularly some of their new signings.
Timo Werner is one such player. In a two striker system at RB Leipzig, he posted unbelievable numbers. However, in Lampard’s 4-3-3 system, he looks lost. It’s a similar story with Kai Havertz.
The 21-year-old, compared to Michael Ballack and Thomas Muller in his time at Leverkusen, is struggling.
Unable to play in his favoured number 10 position, he’s been forced into a number eight role, which doesn’t suit him. Under Allegri however, both these players could find their seasons revived.
In his 4-3-1-2 system, Werner could be unleashed. Playing off a bigger striker, such as Tammy Abraham, Werner could replicate the form which saw him score 28 Bundesliga goals last season.
Able to drop deeper into space, his blistering pace when running through the centre would terrify English defences. Havertz, too, could come alive in this system. Playing in the hole between the strikers and midfield, he could have the sort of freedom he enjoyed in Leverkusen.
For him to have this sort of freedom, however, he’ll need others to pull their weight.
Fortunately, in Ngolo Kante, Mason Mount and Mateo Kovacic, Allegri would have three high quality and hard-working midfielders to help cover Havertz. The one major signing who may suffer in this system could be Hakim Ziyech.
At his best operating wider to the right, he may struggle to adapt to a narrower role. However, he has shown a capacity to operate as a more traditional 10 before, so could potentially rotate with Havertz.
The system, crucially would not nullify Chelsea’s full-backs, who’ve been arguably their stand out players this season.
Ben Chilwell, Cesar Azplicueta and the injured Reece James are all more than capable of fitting into this system. Of course, none are quite at the calibre of former Allegri players, Dani Alves and Patrice Evra, but nonetheless, it’s easy to see them fitting into the Italian’s system.
Of course, there are still issues. The biggest of which, being in goal. With all due respect to the two, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Edouard Mendy are nowhere near the standard of Gianluigi Buffon.
However, if indeed Lampard does go, it’s easy to see Allegri getting the Blues back to where they should be.
