WHEN Jose Mourinho arrived at Chelsea in the summer of 2004, Frank Lampard was a 26-year-old midfielder nobody was quite sure would ever deliver on his promise. When Mourinho left three years later, Lampard was a proven star, a goal threat from midfield, his lung-busting bursts into the box banishing the jibes about his weight that had followed him from West Ham. It would be an exaggeration to say Mourinho made Lampard but it was certainly under him that Lampard blossomed.

But time moves on and eventually, pupils look to usurp their masters. On Sunday, Mourinho and Lampard meet as managers for the first time in a league match. Lampard’s Derby put Mourinho’s Manchester United out of the League Cup after a penalty shoot-out last season but this time there can be no doubt that both sides are taking the fixture seriously.

As well as the subplot, though, there is also a plot. When Mourinho took the Tottenham job, Spurs were 15 points behind Chelsea. If they win at 'White Hart Lane' on Sunday Tottenham will go above Chelsea in the table. That is a remarkable turnaround, particularly given Mourinho clearly remains deeply unhappy with Tottenham’s back four. Spurs have kept only one clean sheet in Mourinho’s seven games in charge, but despite that, they have won four out of five Premier League games under him. Chelsea in that time haven’t kept a single clean
sheet and they have lost four of their five Premier League games.

Chelsea in all competitions since the last international break:
Games: 7
Win: 2
Defeats: 4
Draws: 1
Goals Conceded: 11
Clean Sheets: 0

We don't usually see big-money signings in January but if Chelsea want to stay in the Top-4, We need to spend big & bring in the big guys! pic.twitter.com/2bZ8gMDBKu

— Nouman (@nomifooty) December 14, 2019

Chelsea’s defensive problems were always likely to catch up with them eventually. The surprising thing, in fact, is that after they were so brutally exposed in losing 4-0 at Manchester United on the opening weekend of the season – a game in which they looked consistently dangerous going forward – it has taken so long for the reckoning to come.

In part, that is because of N’Golo Kante. He was absent at Old Trafford and even in the slightly more advanced role he adopts these days to accommodate Jorginho he represents a formidable defensive force, his energy and reading of the game allowing him to cover at least some of the structural defects in the side. But Kante has not been at his best recently, which may in part be connected with ongoing legal issues in France involving a former representative.

What’s been notable of late has been that Chelsea seem generally to have lost rhythm, as though in attempting to offer more protection for the back four, some of their early-season attacking fluency has been lost. An awareness of the problem doesn’t necessarily mean Lampard will find a solution; his international career, after all, was characterised by the way he and Steven Gerrard failed to work out a way of covering for each other.

What is particularly troubling for Chelsea going into Sunday’s game is that they look particularly vulnerable to just the sort of football Mourinho’s Spurs have begun to produce. Lampard’s Derby conceded a greater proportion of goals on the counter than any other side in the Championship last season and, as Solskjaer’s United proved in the
opening weekend, reacting to transitions remains a major issue.

Prime Mourinho counter-attack taking shape at Tottenham Hotspur:

• Ball-Playing Centre-Backs
• Two Pacey Wingers
• Deadly Striker Upfront
• A Goal-Scoring #10

Jose and his new assistant João Secremento cooking something special at Spurs.#THFC #COYSpic.twitter.com/iwSdYYqcar

— Last Word On Spurs (@LastWordOnSpurs) December 8, 2019

The expectation may have been that Mourinho would tighten Tottenham defensively, but the players who have enjoyed a surge of form under him are Dele Alli, Lucas Moura and Son Heung-min, all of whom are particularly dangerous when given space to surge into, just the sort of space Lampard’s Chelsea, with their lack of compactness, are likely
to offer up.

Of course, it may be that Chelsea’s attacking prowess returns, that Christian Pulisic and Wilian snap out of their indifferent form or that Mason Mount or Tammy Abraham will do something brilliant. Tottenham will offer up chances; their win at Wolves last week was more than a little fortuitous.

But at the moment, Spurs have an edge and a sense that they are on an upward path. Chelsea do not. Lampard’s honeymoon is over and, while his popularity at Stamford Bridge means that few will be making too many direct comparisons with last season – when, it’s easy to forget, they finished third, won the Europa League and got to the League Cup
final – the next couple of months, particularly when the transfer window opens with the ban lifted represent not merely a major test, but a potentially defining period in Lampard’s managerial career.