According to a recent report by The Daily Express, Premier League giants Chelsea have been urged to sell a flurry of first-team stars by former Liverpool legend Don Hutchinson. The TV pundit went on to claim that the squad that is currently at Lampard’s disposal is too big, and they should look to offload some deadwood before they look to acquire any new players.
The report suggests that the former midfielder thinks that Lampard’s current squad is too ‘heavy’ to operate effectively in the Premier League, and is claimed to believe that the manager needs to do away up to four of the current first-team players. He further went on to suggest that the Blues have an extremely strong squad, and said that for all the talk about the youngsters, players like Antonio Rudiger and N’Golo Kante have huge parts to play of their own.
Which Areas Of The Pitch Should Lampard Look To Optimise?
For all the attacking quality that the Blues possess, their inability to find a substitute striker who will deliver consistently could come back to haunt Lampard later on in the year. Michy Batshuayi just doesn’t make the cut, while Tammy Abraham simply cannot be asked to play the entirety of the campaign. Also, the left-back role is one that the gaffer should be extremely worried about.
Here Are The Three Players Lampard Must Offload:
Olivier Giroud
Olivier Giroud is one player whose time at Chelsea looks to have drawn to a close now. Even though he was an integral part of the Blues’ run to the Europa League final last season, he has barely been involved this time around, and should ideally be sold in the summer.
His lack of pace is sure to be a problem for Lampard, whose teams have become renowned for playing a free-flowing and exciting brand of attacking football. The Frenchman is a very different kind of striker to what Chelsea currently need, and must be gotten rid of.
Emerson Palmieri
The Brazilian origin Italian international has been the hallmark of inconsistency since joining Chelsea from Roma. While he certainly possesses qualities that could be utilised by a Premier League club, his inability to deliver at the highest level is sure to be concerning Lampard.
The situation got so bad at one point that instead of playing the Italian, Lampard preferred to move right-back Cesar Azpilicueta over to the left side. He defends decently well but tends to be extremely careless and undependable while going forward.
Marcos Alonso
The Spanish wing-back can best be described as the exact opposite of Emerson in many senses, but the pair of them are the same when it comes to consistency. His preferred position is at wing-back, and that aspect of his play is apparent every time he steps onto the pitch. He defends extremely shabbily and is arguably the least dependable player at Chelsea at this point.
For all the good work that he had done under Antonio Conte, it’s clear now that the former Fiorentina man’s time at Stamford Bridge is coming to a close, and the Blues will do well to sell him off in the winter.
