With over two hundred pounds spent on acquiring new players in 2020, the honeymoon period is over for manager Frank Lampard at Chelsea FC. He had his one season to get his feet wet, and he did a fine job given the cards he was dealt.
Competing for a trophy and finishing in the top four was impressive, given how he was working with the hindrances of a transfer ban. However, now needs to produce a trophy or two, and the quest begins with the season opener at Brighton & Hove Albion tomorrow night.
Make no mistake about it, this season at Stamford Bridge is all about closing the gap on Manchester City and Liverpool. With an emerging superstar in Christian Pulisic, and six new players signed, the Blues are very much expected to be in the title hunt.
Chelsea at Brighton FYIs
Chelsea Team News: go to this link
Chelsea Season Preview: go to this link
Chelsea starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Kickoff: 3:15 pm ET Monday Sept 14
TV: in USA, N/A Online: Stream via Peacock
Odds: Chelsea -160, draw +320, Brighton +400
“I’m very aware that a club like Chelsea, even though we had a transfer ban, even though the year was difficult, expectations are going to go up hugely,” said Lampard.
“And I just have to accept that as part of the job, and try and go about my job as well as I can. And then if I am having relationships, between managing up [to the board] or managing around me, I have to be as good as I can with those, because they’re really important.”
Brighton boss Graham Potter also weighed in on the ambitions of his opponent tomorrow night:
“The intention is clear — they want to compete, they want to compete at the top.”
“They had a really good season last year in terms of finishing fourth with an embargo, introducing young players, and still managing to get into a Champions League spot was really good.”
“I am guessing for a club like Chelsea and for somebody like Frank, who has competed at the top for all of his career, that they are going to push on and try to compete for the title.”
For a club like Brighton, staying up is the goal, not really much more. If the Seagulls can finish mid-table, then it’s all the better. For a club like Chelsea, in the Roman Abramovich era at least, it’s all about winning league titles.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for Chicago Tribune.com, on Twitter and his cat on Instagram.
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