Frank Lampard's return to Stamford Bridge has been...interesting, to say the least. Since taking over as manager, Lampard has put plenty of faith in youth, and one big beneficiary has been striker Tammy Abraham.
The 21-year-old academy graduate impressed in the Championship with both Aston Villa and Bristol City, and he is now delivering the goods in the Premier League.
He opened his account with two goals against Norwich City, and added to his tally with yet another brace in Saturday's 2-2 draw with Sheffield United. As noted by Opta, those strikes made Abraham the first Englishman to score at least two goals in consecutive Premier League appearances for Chelsea since Lampard in January 2010.
His form has kept both Michy Batshuayi and Olivier Giroud out of the team, and fans have really got behind the academy star.
It was recently revealed that, thanks to his two goals against Norwich, Abraham was the highest-scoring English player since the start of last season, and his tally now sits at 30 goals as a result of his double against the Blades.
Alongside Abraham, both Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori have impressed this season, with Lampard clearly eager to help bring through some of Chelsea's brightest young stars.
The trio all started against Sheffield United and the average age of Chelsea's lineup was 24 years and 158 days, which was their youngest ever average in a Premier League match.
One of the primary reasons for Lampard's arrival at the club was to help lower the average age of the squad. He did so at Derby County, and he is clearly doing the same at Chelsea. With the likes of Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Reece James all still to return, that age could still drop even lower.
It looks like Lampard has succeeded in that regard, and now he just needs to focus on results on the pitch. The Blues have endured a challenging start to the campaign and, after throwing away a two-goal lead against Sheffield United, have picked up just one win from their first four games.
Source :
90min
