With six defeats out of six and the possibility of relegation still not mathematically ruled out with five games to go, Chelsea caretaker boss Frank Lampard would not be blamed for turning to the club’s burgeoning pool of academy talents to trigger a response from his underachieving stars. So it may come as a surprise that the 44-year-old is yet to hand a single minute to any of the talented stars currently in the club’s academy at Cobham.
In the first season of his opening stint as the club’s manager back in 2019-20, Lampard put up a defiant defence of the likes of Mason Mount, Reece James, Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori when he decided to start them ahead of more seasoned professionals like Olivier Giroud, Pedro and Antonio Rudiger. “I set out this season to see what these young boys could do,” the Blues boss said back in 2019. “If I didn’t have a transfer ban and came to this club and had opportunities to bring players in during the summer, I still would have trusted the young boys.”
In the end, he guided Chelsea to a top-four finish and an FA Cup final, all without spending a penny on transfers. But now Lampard is feeling the pressure to get that elusive first win after a disastrous return to the dugout. Whether it has been purposeful or not, he has ignored the presence of academy graduates, going against the ‘2030 vision’ set out by director of football development Neil Bath, and continued selecting out-of-favour players ahead of them.
Express Sport looks at four starlets yet to get a chance to shine under Lampard who could impress if given the opportunity in the final weeks of the season.
Lewis Hall
One of the brightest beacons from Graham Potter’s short reign was the promotion of 18-year-old Hall to the first-team squad. And not just that, the youngster earned his game time too with some impressive performances. Whether it was left-back, wing-back or centre midfield, Hall went about his business quietly and effectively as Potter’s utility man.
He put in a man-of-the-match performance against Manchester City in their 2-0 Carabao Cup defeat and went on to make 10 appearances in the Premier League while Ben Chilwell was out injured. Hall demonstrated the determination and work rate that has been lacking from several Chelsea flops this season, and had Potter remained in charge, his season might have gone differently.
For him to be sent back down to the development squad makes little sense, especially when Marc Cucurella has struggled and Chelsea are leaking goals. A major factor in that decision was that Hall was unlikely to play much after eight new signings arrived in January. But Lampard could have easily found a place in his 20-man squad for this exciting player, who should certainly be in the conversation to play some of the remaining matches.
Carney Chukwuemeka
With just one Premier League start and 10 substitute appearances, Chukwuemeka could be forgiven if he is slightly disappointed with the limited outings he has had in his first season at Chelsea.
Still only 19, the attacking midfielder showed plenty of promise at Aston Villa before the Blues swooped for sign him in a £20million deal. His cameos under Potter suggested he had enormous potential, but like Hall, he has fallen to the wayside to make room for the new influx of expensive signings.
Have any of them performed better than Chukwuemeka? The jury is out on that one. His only start came against Crystal Palace in an unfamiliar role in the front three, and his appearances have been vastly limited since then. With Raheem Sterling and Joao Felix failing to find the net, it is baffling that Lampard has failed to give him a single minute of action to impress.
Omari Hutchinson
Sterling hasn’t scored in the Premier League since January, Joao Felix has scored once in the league and Mudryk is still yet to open his Chelsea account. For youngsters like Hutchinson, they must be chomping at the bit for a chance to prove what they can do.
The former Arsenal trainee has impressed at youth level with 15 goal contributions in 21 appearances in the PL2 and scored a wonderful solo goal against Leyton Orient in the EFL Trophy earlier this season. Unlike Hall and Chukwuemeka, there was a feeling that Hutchinson should be eased in to first-team action as he had the look of a raw talent in need of some fine tuning, and that was evident as he struggled to make his mark against Man City.
Still, there is undeniably a player with huge potential waiting in Chelsea’s ranks. Hutchinson is not afraid to take players on and embark on mazy runs – the kind of confidence Chelsea could do with exhibiting as their toothless attack struggle to find the net. Lampard may consider it is too early
Harvey Vale
Handed his debut by Thomas Tuchel in the Carabao Cup win over Brentford in the 2021-22 season, the 19-year-old has stagnated a little at Chelsea after returning from a loan spell at Hull City. Chelsea recalled Vale with only three appearances under his belt after being hampered by injury with the Championship club, with Xavier Simons experiencing a better time in Yorkshire.
The attacking midfielder has bags of ability and a wand of a left foot, and with the right manager to guide him, he could make the same steps as Mason Mount in becoming the latest Chelsea academy player to break into the first-team squad.
The only trouble is that with so many attacking players ahead of him, his only real chance to impress has been with the Under-23s. He has registered three goals and four assists for the youth side this season but if Lampard is looking to inject some fresh energy into his frontline, Vale should be one of the names considered.
