"It's a pretty easy decision to make. This is my club."
The very first words of Frank Lampard after he was appointed as Chelsea's caretaker boss until the end of the season. The 44-year-old will take charge of "his club" for the first time – for a second time – on Saturday afternoon as the Blues go to Molineux to take on Wolves in the Premier League.
Lampard returns to Stamford Bridge over two years after he was sacked by the club and replaced by Thomas Tuchel. The Chelsea icon this time will inherit a squad largely made up of players who were not at the club when he was last here, but there are still 13 who he has worked with before.
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It will be really interesting to see how Lampard approaches his first team selection against Wolves at the weekend. The former Chelsea midfielder has thus far only taken one training session with his new squad but they will have one more session ahead of the visit to Wolves on Saturday.
There are of course members of the squad Lampard knows better than others and could turn to them while he still gets to know other players. The likes of Mason Mount, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic and N'Golo Kante all played integral roles under Lampard in his first spell as head coach.
Changes Lampard could make
Bruno Saltor, who took charge of the goalless draw with Liverpool on Tuesday evening, named his first-ever side. It turned out to be the only XI he would name as interim Chelsea head coach but it's one that did perform well overall despite the side's inability to find the back of the net with a number of golden opportunities missed in front of a frustrated Stamford Bridge crowd.
Chelsea XI that drew with Liverpool: Kepa; W. Fofana, Koulibaly, Cucurella; James, Kante, Kovacic, Fernandez, Chilwell; Felix, Havertz
Lampard's first Chelsea side could well be impacted by what's on the horizon for the Blues. The squad will travel to Real Madrid in the early stages of next week for the first-leg of the Champions League quarter-final. That's effectively Chelsea's season right there and if they were to crash out of the competition, there would be nothing left to play for.
So Lampard might decide to leave Kante out of the side at Molineux. The France international has recently returned to the first-team squad after missing almost eight months with a serious hamstring problem that required surgery. There might be scope to leave him out of the XI that faces Wolves so he is fit and ready for the trip to Spain next week.
There could be a return to the side for Mount, who has barely played any football recently. The 24-year-old has featured 23 times in the Premier League this season for Chelsea but has not been out on the pitch since the end of February when the Blues were beaten at Tottenham.
Mount missed games against Leeds United, Leicester City and Everton with a pelvis injury but has been an unused substitute in the last two outings against Aston Villa and Liverpool. There is a theory that the ongoing contract saga behind the scenes is the reason he hasn't played much in recent weeks. Lampard's relationship with Mount is very strong, though, so we could see the England international return to the side on Saturday.
Benoit Badiashile may be in line to return to the side, perhaps for Marc Cucurella. The French defender was not included in the Champions League squad so it may make more sense to play him at Wolves and hand Cucurella a rest.
Lampard might return to a double pivot in the centre of midfield. Against Liverpool in the week, Bruno went with a three-man midfield to match up with what the Reds did at Stamford Bridge but he could return to a pairing at Molineux.
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