Eduoard Mendy and Hakim Ziyech split mainGetty Images

Chelsea: Can Mendy & Ziyech save beleaguered Lampard?

It’s been an incredibly tough few weeks for Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard, who’s come under intense pressure amid the club’s recent collapse.

In a sense, the turnaround in the mood at Stamford Bridge has embodied the randomness and topsy-turvy nature of pandemic football; one minute pundits were touting Lampard’s side as Premier League contenders following a 14-game unbeaten run in all competitions (eight in the league), only for the ex-England international to be supposedly fighting for his job after four losses in six league games.

Throw in Chelsea’s dead rubber Champions League draw vs Krasnodar and the Blues’ run reads one win in their last seven. That success came at home to West Ham United, a 3-0 victory that flattered the West London side due to the flow of the game at the home of last year’s FA Cup finalists.

The inherent culture of sacking managers at the club over the years hasn’t helped Lampard in the last few weeks, likewise a summer transfer splurge of over £200 million that raised the expectation of observers, despite the obvious extenuating factors that meant the campaign wasn’t going to be without bumps in the road.

Frank Lampard Chelsea 2021Getty Images

One thing that’s stood out in the recent decline in performances and results has been the absence of clean sheets, which immediately puts goalkeeper Edouard Mendy under the microscope.

To some extent, the scrutinisation of the Senegal shot-stopper’s every move is an upshot of last year’s struggles under Kepa Arrizabalaga, who reached a low ebb in Lampard’s maiden season in charge.

The loss of faith in Kepa prompted the purchase of the West African from Rennes, whose early impact between the sticks gave the Blues confidence to build due to his assuredness in goal and, particularly, ability to save shots…a primary criticism of the Spain international.

Fast forward to the present, and doubts about the aforementioned are starting to build, even if supporters recognise that the side face far greater issues, including, but not limited to their general organisation with and without the ball.

Edouard Mendy Chelsea 2020-21Getty

While the sudden loss of balance and unsophisticated approach have exposed the defence and Mendy in recent weeks, the 28-year-old hasn’t been entirely blameless either.

Goal highlighted the Senegalese’s hesitant sweeping ability at the initial stage of the ongoing malaise, before concluding there was no need to raise alarm as he’d, largely, still retained an acceptable level of shot-stopping at the time.

Since mid-December, though, some of the concessions have suggested the early consistency in stopping shots has dropped a notch. There have still been impressive saves, in fairness, notably to stop Alexander Lacazette in that 3-1 defeat by Arsenal and another against Manchester City from point-blank range to thwart Rodri in the Blues' humiliating reverse on Sunday.

Be that as it may, Anwar El Ghazi’s equalizer for Aston Villa in a 1-1 draw at the Bridge to close out the year and Ilkay Gundogan’s shot from the edge of the box to open the scoring for the Cityzens last time out were largely avoidable.

Calling the consistency of Mendy’s shot-stopping into question is a situation that’ll worry Chelsea supporters who more or less criticised Kepa for blowing hot and cold between the sticks.

Edouard Mendy ChelseaGetty Images

A deep dive into advanced goalkeeping data provided by StatsBomb reveals that Mendy sits sixth-bottom among first-choice goalies for post-shot expected goals, a metric that attempts to rank goalkeepers based on their ability to stop shots.

Truthfully, while it’s not an exact science, the standing of the summer acquisition from Rennes implies that while being an upgrade on Kepa (who was bottom of the PSxG table last term), the West African isn’t pulling up trees either.

Still, it’ll be reasonable to hold off on all the judging until the end of the season, but the recent Mendy underperformance remains a concern, nonetheless. 

In attack, Lampard has seen his side either fail to find any sort of rhythm in the final third, greatly attributed to Hakim Ziyech’s absence until that City game or be let down by their finishing, especially Timo Werner’s, whose puzzling misses have amazed observers in an extended run without scoring.

Hakim Ziyech of ChelseaPhoto by Alex Pantling/Getty Images

There’d been calls for Ziyech to return — understandably so given his integration into the side coincided with their best spell this season — because he was the team’s creative hub before sustaining that hamstring injury against Leeds United.

Of course, the wide playmaker packs a punch and is utterly important to the side in the attacking third, yet, the general direction of the team has worsened remarkably in the last month. This and the evidence of recent showings, as well as a significant drop off in several important players in the group, suggest the West London side may not suddenly return to a high level of performance with the re-introduction of just one player.

While there are understandable circumstances to explain the struggles of Lampard’s side, the broader structural issues that have resurfaced since December threaten to derail their season. Their haphazard pressing has made them easy to play through in defeats by Arsenal and especially vs City, while a weakness in defending transitions re-emerged at Everton and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The tightness of the league table means the mood at Stamford Bridge could change swiftly following a couple of favourable results to relieve the pressure on their young head coach. Be that as it may, there’s a sense that Mendy and Ziyech may be hamstrung if this Chelsea side fail to correct fundamental flaws that have reappeared in the last month or thereabouts.

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