One word that has stuck with Lampard in his short Chelsea reign is “youth”. Right from the onset, he made his intentions known on developing a lot of youngsters and giving them more chances.
This was a bold move because Chelsea are not renowned for aiding youngster’s careers and with the transfer ban the Blues had to deal with in the summer, the appointment of a youth loving coach couldn’t have come at a better time.
While the likes of Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham have imposed themselves early on, even more youngsters could be set for first-team chances.
Billy Gilmour
Billy Gilmour has become one of the most highly-rated youngsters in the Chelsea academy and he could get his chance in the Premier League after the international break.
The 18-year-old was named on the bench by Frank Lampard for the league match against Sheffield United at Stamford Bridge.
The Scotland U21 international has massively impressed Lampard and did a good job in pre-season, having been part of the first-team squad for training.
It was a big sign of how much Lampard rates him, with Tiemoue Bakayoko having not been with the team amid reports that he is set to leave on loan and return to Monaco.
Jody Morris and Joe Edwards know him both well from their time coaching in the academy, and now he is looking to make that step towards the senior side.
But why is he so highly rated?
The youngster joined the Blues in the summer of 2017 from Rangers, where had been with the Scottish club throughout his youth.
A talented midfielder, Gilmour showed his excellent skills throughout the past two seasons with the Blues, helping them win the FA Youth Cup and getting to the UEFA Youth League final.
Gilmour was taken to Ireland with the first team for pre-season, having impressed Lampard during the two matches.
Chelsea’s familiar policy is to send youths on loan and the fact that Gilmour was not sent on loan this summer as well, despite the likes of Conor Gallagher and Luke McCormick heading out for the 2019/20 campaign, shows that Lampard is keen to keep him around.
Gilmour has great ability on the ball, with vision and passing to a high level, which is something that has been impressive to watch.
And now he could be set for game time and first-team action under Frank Lampard.
Fikayo Tomori
Everyone had David Luiz as a certain starter in their predicted lineups for this season, only for the new manager to surprise everyone by letting the defender go.
With Antonio Rudiger out, Lampard has lined up with Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen so far. It was expected that one of them would make the grade to partner the German when he returns, but instead Frank’s pitched another curve-ball.
Fikayo Tomori, who was player of the season at Derby under Lampard’s management last year, was thrown into the first team against Sheffield United when nobody saw it coming.
The Blues ended up conceding twice in a frustrating second half that saw them let two points slip’ but it was still a gamble worth taking. Christensen and Zouma hadn’t looked at their best, and if Tomori wasn’t going to get his chance now, with last season’s two top centre-backs gone, when was he going to get one?
It remains to be seen whether Tomori keeps his place, but despite the goals, he did little to lose it.
He was calm and assured on the ball and showed his quickness and intelligence in defence. Lampard knows just how good he is, and with cup games to come after the international break, this might be just the beginning of a big season for the 21-year-old.
