Could this weekend's game against Manchester City be the making of Frank Lampard's Chelsea?

Frank Lampard Chelsea

Chelsea’s visit to Manchester City on Saturday evening will be billed as an early examination of Frank Lampard’s management. The season is nearly four months old, but still the suspicion remains that Lampard’s progress is a feelgood story, a tale of intangibles rather than one with basis in technical merit.

It’s not fair, but it’s understandable. There’s something so seductive about Chelsea’s recent arc and anyone not charmed by it is being miserly.

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Seb Stafford-Bloor is a football writer at Tifo Football and member of the Football Writers' Association. He was formerly a regularly columnist for the FourFourTwo website, covering all aspects of the game, including tactical analysis, reaction pieces, longer-term trends and critiquing the increasingly shady business of football's financial side and authorities' decision-making.