Some thoughts on team selection stuff; it's become clear over the last 4-6 weeks that Lampard's choices have been influenced by...external factors, perhaps more than at any other point during his time as Chelsea manager. https://twitter.com/liam_twomey/status/1350531143964229633

You don't have to look very far to see who we're talking about either. Those four started a combined 9 league matches before December, then 15 since. Jorginho got 5 of those 9 pre-December but didn't start at all in the PL during an unbeaten November. https://twitter.com/Matt_Law_DT/status/1350493075429347328

None of them directly affect whether Hudson-Odoi should have started more often but, when you're trying to keep senior squad players happy *and* keep new signings happy, especially when many of the new signings have had absences enforced by injury or illness, it is harder.

And harder still when certain unhappy camps start to go public with their displeasure. When results turned bad we all saw the stories and the first real questions about FL's future at the club emerge. Who was briefing those stories? How quickly did the counter-stories emerge?

That unhappy undercurrent is easily enough to unseat a manager, and Frank's well aware of that; he was in enough dressing rooms where that happened during his time as a player. So you play them, leave them out, or sell them. We know what he'd rather do, informed by history.

Right at the start of his Chelsea reign he ditched David Luiz without hesitation. Several other experienced players were shipped out or sidelined and it was easy to do because he had a bit of a free pass, the market was there, and he proved the kids could play and play well.

Now, though, there's a pandemic and there's no market for the players who might otherwise be summarily moved on. Results took a bit of a dive, performances with them, and it's harder for any manager to make those same bold decisions when the heat is on. The frustration, though...

...is that the younger players continue to show that they deserve to play, and are producing results where others aren't. FL hasn't got everything right, far from it, but there are mitigating circumstances as to why these teams are being picked right now.

Over the next 4-6 weeks, if results turn back in Chelsea's favour, and the window closes again, you might expect to see a 'return' to the trends that have worked best under Lampard's stewardship. That means the younger players leading the way and a further changing of the guard.