Frank Lampard at Derby County

After reaching the Championship play-off semi-final in the 2017/18 season, Derby County have elected to take a risk in appointing their new manager, Frank Lampard. The Chelsea legend and former Manchester City player has taken the reigns from Gary Rowett. The novice manager has had no previous experience of management but has played under the world’s best, including Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti.

Hoping to recreate the glory days of Derby in the 1970s, Lampard’s appointment has brought excitement to the fans and players alike. With the last time in the Premier League ending in relegation with the lowest ever points tally, Derby are pushing to go up once more and re-establish their reputation as one of the English elite.

Last season saw the team finish in sixth and beaten by Fulham in the playoffs as Wolves and Cardiff won automatic promotion. Frank Lampard will be calling on all his playing experience and the coaching abilities of his assistant Jody Morris to ensure that they can go better last year’s achievement.

Tactical set-up & style of play

Frank Lampard’s Derby predominantly set up in a 4-3-3 formation with the wingers moving inside playing like number 10s to make it a 4-3-2-1 formation. This provides a lot of combination play through central areas, where the centre-forwards, wingers, and central midfielders play close to one another, setting up most of their attacks.

The main change seen from last season’s Derby is the energy in their play, with and without the ball. The high pressure off the ball is matched by forward runs made to support and run beyond the players in possession.

 Offensive structure

Frank Lampard’s Derby look to build up their play from the back, positioning their players in the optimum positions to receive the ball in good spaces, where they can be dangerous for the opposition. Their team is set up to play quickly through the middle with a lot of runners off the ball always giving forward options; a big part of their identity. It allows them to play directly into their attacking players, trying to threaten the goal as many times as possible throughout the game.

During the build-up, their central defenders are close to each other, very uncommon for teams who play from the back. This allows them to offer simple passing options to one another with the defensive midfielder coming close and giving an option for the first forward pass. Their positioning also allows one central defender to advance with the ball, as well as build a structure to prevent a counter attack.

As seen above, in their third of the pitch, Derby create triangles all over. Each player involved in building up will have at least two passing options to advance the ball further up the pitch.

During the first phase of the build-up, Derby’s full-backs occupy low and wide positions. This set-up allows simple passes at the back and prevents congestion in midfield, stretching the play vertically while inviting the opposition onto them.