Frank Lampard explains tactical targets for Chelsea

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has outlined the tactical tweaks he intends to make with his new side.

The 41-year-old recently oversaw a 4-0 victory against St Patrick’s Athletic in the club’s final pre-season match of their Dublin tour.

Lampard’s tactical outline: Five things to know…

• So far Lampard has overseen two pre-season matches for Chelsea.
• A 1-1 draw against Bohemians preceded the aforementioned thrashing over St Patrick’s Athletic.
• In the latter match Lampard switched from a 4-4-2 diamond in the first half to a 4-2-3-1 after the break.
• The tactical switch brought about two goals either side of the interval.
• Lampard has now spoken about how he wants his side to ‘adapt’ during matches.

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During the mauling at Richmond Park Lampard tinkered with his tactics, switching his side from a 4-4-2 diamond in the first half to a 4-2-3-1 after the restart.

The alteration saw goals from Mason Mount and Emerson in the opening 45 minutes, before Olivier Giroud bagged a brace in the second half, and Lampard has now outlined his tactical blueprint for the forthcoming season, explaining how he wants to encourage “in-game” changes to keep opponents guessing.

Speaking to the club’s official website, he said: “We want to be adaptable, whether we need to change something in-game or for games.

“That’s the way we train and I want the players to have that. We know we’re not bringing any players in so we need to find little ways in pre-season and we want to try to make it difficult for teams to play against us.

“It went really well in the first half. We had a lot of bodies in midfield and they dominated the ball in there, as they should do in this sort of game. As we get fitter, train more and the combinations get better, hopefully we’ll see more of that.”

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Lampard sets pre-season target for young players

With the Blues currently enduring a two-window transfer embargo, Lampard will be forced to utilise the players already on Chelsea’s books, and he has now set a target for the club’s youngsters to prove a point during pre-season.

He said: “It’s important that the younger players have a target to prove in pre-season that they’re good enough for a place in the team or the squad.

“Tammy [Abraham] and Michy [Batshuayi] had a lot of energy up front and showed exactly the sort of stuff that I want.

“Mason showed what I saw at Derby last year with his energy alongside Ross so there were a lot of good performances.

“Billy Gilmour has had a brilliant trip. He’s a young lad but the personality he’s shown and to play in two games at the level he’s played has been great.

“I just hope he keeps on pushing like that this season.”

Having been a key player under Lampard at Derby last season, Mount pledged his long-term future to Chelsea, signing a new five-year deal on Monday afternoon.