While writing his column for Sky Sports, pundit Paul Merson revealed what he believes is Frank Lampard’s number one problem this season.
Chelsea have been one of the most impressive teams in the Premier League in recent weeks. Their demolition of Sheffield United in match week eight was the perfect way to follow on from a flurry of clean sheets, even if that run was halted by the Blades.
Lampard’s men showcased their plethora of attacking talent in the 4-1 victory, and that was without Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic, who were ruled out through self-isolation and injury respectively.
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Chelsea have a host of options in attack, which is a blessing of course, but Merson believes that he could also be a curse for Lampard as the season rolls on. He writes in his Sky Sports column:
“The problem is going to be keeping everyone happy and that’s going to be the hardest job in the world. You are going to have top, top-draw players not playing, and that’s hard.”
“Kai Havertz wasn’t even in the squad because he was unwell and Christian Pulisic is injured too. Mateo Kovacic played on Saturday, but he hasn’t been playing. That’s going to be the problem Chelsea have to contend with going forward.”
“Is the squad too big? It depends how far they go in certain competitions, but that is where Mourinho was great. If you look at his Chelsea team and the squad he had at Stamford Bridge, you never heard anybody moaning.”
“From the outside, you always thought, ‘wow’! How do you keep all those players happy? There’s got to be an art to it because when you’ve got that quality of player, to keep them all happy when they are not playing is a major skill.”
“It’s alright people saying they get £100,000-a-week, they get paid well or whatever, but they want to play football. As a player, you want to play football and that will be Lampard’s biggest challenge going forward.”
Considering Chelsea were previously unable to replace Eden Hazard, one of the greatest players ever to pull on the shirt, you get the feeling Lampard won’t be overly concerned with having too much talent on his hands.
There’s plenty of games to play and plenty of opportunities for players to feature. Lampard will be resting easy, no matter what Merson believes.