After Didier Drogba’s acrimonious departure last summer, it was perhaps understandable that this would be Frank Lampard’s last year at the club, despite the pleas of Chelsea fans for one more season at least.
There is no doubt our number 8 can still play at this level, a double helped sink Everton weeks ago, and although only playing 12 times in the league so far, he has grabbed 6 goals, outstanding for a midfielder, but par for Frank Lampard.
Leveling Kerry Dixon’s 193 goals for Chelsea throughout is 12 year career at the Bridge, few would begrudge him should be selfishly want to plod over the double-century for us, it would be the least he deserves after an illustrious career in London, he needs 10 goals to break Bobby Tambling’s record, and with us still in three cups as well as a host of league games to come, would you really bet against it?
Runner-up in the Ballon D’or 2005, Premier League player of the decade, and the only midfielder to have scored more than 150 goals in the Premier League. Those who don’t rate him are simply kidding themselves. That’s not mentioning his 93 England caps either.
Nonetheless, Roman Abramovich wants youth. Romeu and McEachran hold the long-term key in midfield, and with Ramires, Marin, Mikel, Oscar, Mata, and Luiz all 25 or under, you quickly begin to understand that he wants rid of the last of the ‘Mourinho Era’ meaning you would also expect Cech, Terry, and Cole’s days to be numbered.
Of course, this is certainly not a bad thing. Many fans thought this would be the year that the rebuild kicked into third gear, but with the wholesale changes in the squad, many people got too carried away with our start to the season, none of the other big teams went through such a shift this season, with the likes of Hazard and Oscar coming in, and David Luiz’s emergence in a midfield role, expect us to reap the rewards over the next season or two.
It’s clear that Abramovich also had this thinking. He was never Di Matteo’s biggest fan, and knew that he was unlikely to get one of his primary targets until the 2013/14 season, which I believe shows he is earmarking this as the start of the future for Chelsea football club.
We all remember Mourinho’s back-to-back titles, so here is hoping that something similar is round the corner. With Real Madrid’s lackluster campaign so far, you’d be a silly man to write him off coming back to fire off Roman’s new regime.
By Brad Smith
Follow @BrummieBrad