Chelsea were in such a good place not so long ago, winning games and Werner was scoring. From September 23rd to December 8th the team only suffered one defeat, in a Carabao cup match vs Tottenham that ended penalties. But since that run of good form, the Blues have only won 4 out of their last 11. Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich pulled the plug on Lampard this morning and had this to say;
“This was a very difficult decision for the Club, not least because I have an excellent personal relationship with Frank and I have the utmost respect for him’.
“He is a man of great integrity and has the highest of work ethics. However, under current circumstances we believe it is best to change managers.
“On behalf of everyone at the Club, the Board and personally, I would like to thank Frank for his work as Head Coach and wish him every success in the future. He is an important icon of this great club and his status here remains undiminished. He will always be warmly welcomed back at Stamford Bridge.”
The problem at Chelsea is they integrated so many new players into an already young squad last summer. They are learning a new system, building chemistry with their teammates, but are struggling to adapt to the demands of English football. It’s normal that when your main striker who just cost 53M Euros has only scored 1 goal in the last 15 games, you’re going to have a hard time winning a soccer match.
Lampard has been pointing out that Timo Werner will do better, but this saga is one of the reason he has lost his job. Frank was there to get results on the pitch, keep his players performing, and to find a solution when things aren’t going to plan.
He should have used Mr Consistency Olivier Giroud more this season, the player known to dig his team out of holes late on in games. The Frenchman scores goals when given the chance, but that’s just it, his coach needs to give him the chance. I get that they have two young strikers in need of game time to develop, but when you fall from 1st to 9th you should be going all in. Using everything available.
The now former coach was appointed in charge of the Blues last year and finished the Premier League in 4th place. He also made it to the knock out stages of the Champions League, and whoever does take over as coach will face off against Atletico Madrid on February 23rd for the first leg. Lampard has been visibly upset in the media lately with reason, he’s watching his team slip into a difficult hole to get out from. Chelsea’s earlier title chances have now pretty much faded away this year.
The teams owner Roman Abramovich is a business man, and saw the threat of what missing out on next years Champions League means to the club. This is a tournament that brings the team a much needed influx of cash. Chelsea desperately need that money, especially with all the recent investments and the past years revenue loss. This unfortunately prompted the owner to make a business decision; to let the coach go, possibly too soon. Though the Russian billionaire is known for having a quick trigger when it comes to letting coaches go, 11 since 2003, this time it must have been difficult considering Lampard won many trophy’s with the team as a player, and a was already Chelsea Legend before taking on the coaching gig. The team is in 9th place with 29 points, ONLY 11 pts away from 1st. With a few games and some luck, they could have pulled back into 4th place considering out of form Liverpool occupy it with 34 points.
One big positive impact Lampard had with the club was the promotion of academy players, he focused on youth. Players like Kurt Zouma, Ben Chilwell, Mason Mount were playing well, plus Tammy Abraham scored a hattrick just yesterday. Who’s to say Chelsea weren’t going to blow out the Wolves on Wednesday with Werner on the bench and Abraham starting? During his time as manager he took an ageing squad and prepared it for the future.
I honestly believe the club’s owner was thinking that Havertz and Werner were becoming Kepa 2.0, so he hit the panic button too early. (Chelsea bought GK Kepa in 2018 for €80m , it has gone horrible for him his value has already dropped to €15m )
The team has already been speaking with Thomas Tuchel, former manager of PSG, who will most likely be next man sitting in the Stamford Bridge hot seat. Tuchel made it to the Champions League final last year, but lost 1-0 against Bayern Munich. He was let go several weeks ago after a deteriorating relationship with the clubs hierarchy, PSG was 3rd in France at the time. Being German, and having coached in the Bundesliga where both Werner and Havertz come from is a plus. He can hopefully help them adapt and find their form again because they are both very good.
I personally think Lampard should have been given more time to turn it around. We can look at Arsenals manager Mikel Arteta as the perfect example. His time seemed over when Arsenal only had 3 wins in 11 games. Luckily for him the board had his back and he managed to turn things around going on a 6 game undefeated streak that started with a 3-1 win over Chelsea. Though the team is still in 11th place, they were in 15th before.
This year has been a very difficult Premier League Campaign, even Manchester United and Ole Solskjaer had a few difficult periods before finding their way again. If things don’t turn around for Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp could be the next coach to get the axe. This is one of the most competitive campaigns in recent years. Underdogs are giving the big teams a run for their money, plus there’s covid, and a compressed schedual. Players are getting injured more than normal, playing up to 3 games a week. We have even seen e Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City as low as 8th place in the table, before climbing back into 2nd.
I’m sure Frank can land a new job and bounce back as quick as possible. His time in the Premier League is not over, I see him taking over a bottom team in the near future. Maybe it will be Newcastle, who knows.
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