Frank Lampard's crisis at Chelsea

Frank Lampard's Position Untenable 

Those of you who follow Chelsea closely over the years will know that many managers before Frank Lampard was appointed have achieved more success than the current Chelsea boss however, have often found themselves very quickly out a job not long afterwards. 

For instance Jose Mourinho who no doubt brought success in his first spell at Chelsea from 2004-2007 was sacked for a second time by Chelsea in just 7 months despite securing a premier league title and the league cup in 2015. That said a 2-1 defeat to Leicester saw Mourinho shown the door by owner Roman Abramovich. 

Carlo Ancelotti was then sacked in 2011for failing to deliver a trophy despite finishing 2nd in the premier league which is not considered good enough for Chelsea and so he was gone. 

Italian Antonio Conte won the hearts and affections of the fans after guiding Chelsea to the premier league title and the Fa cup in 2016-17 following the disastrous 2015-16 campaign. However a fifth place finish for the Italian in his second campaign saw him sacked. 

Conte's successor fellow Italian Maurizio Sarri managed to achieve success in the final of the Europa- league with Chelsea beating Arsenal 4-1 in Baku, earning the Italian his first ever trophy in his managerial career. However, Sarri was allowed to leave by the Blues to leave a month later and head back to his native Italy to become Juventus manager with Chelsea not bothered about paying Sarri off. 

This mirrors Roberto Di Matteo who with no doubt for those who follow Chelsea guided them to the biggest pinnacle in European football by winning the champions league in 2012 beating Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on penalties. Following on from this 5 months later Di Matteo was shown the door despite winning the Fa cup that season. 

Lampard will know full well that previous mangers have been sacked for a lot less than the current run of form he is experiencing with the blues, a barren run 5 defeats in 8 games leaving Chelsea 9 points of the top of the premier league table, the blues find themselves 5 points of the champions league places are being caught by a resurgent West Ham side following Tuesday nights performance, 

Memories of Lampard achieving a 4th placed finish last season are slowly starting to erode before our own eyes and the manager is well aware he is on borrowed time.

Lampard stated after the game "I understand it, whether my views are right or wrong it is all about the expectations of Chelsea Football Club, we are not the same Chelsea Football Club we were when we were winning league titles. 

He goes onto say "The consistency of the squad is simply not the same, the levels the robustness of players who have won leave titles is not the same. The ability of players is what achieves you results, at the top end of the pitch in tight games, its not quite there. Its a team in development. 

" I took this job knowing full well there would be difficult times as this team is not ready yet to compete."

The Blues had had to deal with a transfer ban throughout the duration of Lampard's 1st season so had some leniency with Roman Abramovich. This and the fact that Lampard's status as a Chelsea legend means that Roman Abramovich might allow more time for Lampard to continue. 

However we all know it only takes Roman Abramovich a second to pull the trigger if he feels results aren't going Chelsea's way. 

Lampard can request for more patience from the owner saying that the team aren't ready to compete following Chelsea's 2-0 defeat to Leicester on Tuesday night, but there is only so much he can expect from a ruthless trigger happy owner like Abramovich. 

Lampard dare not test the owners patience or be may well be shown the door. 

It's the matter of the defeats which are alarming. Chelsea have failed to beat a team in the top 8 at the time of kick off against the blues throughout the season. the top teams in the league will expose the deficiencies and it is quite clear that the Blues have a lot of them. 

Leicester only won 2-0 on Tuesday. It should have been 4 or 5 as they moved to the top of the table leaving Chelsea floundering. Edouard Mendy kept the score respectable and Lampard should thank his lucky stars that Jamie Vardy had a rare off night. 

There's no question that Lampard's players are letting him down however, the manager has to take his fair share of the blame. Chelsea showed a lack of organisation, hunger, desire, work-rate and a willingness to fight and showed lack of quality at the King Power Stadium. 

      Lampard struggles to get the best out of summer recruits 

For Tuesday's game against Leicester Lampard named £33 million signing Hakim Ziyech and £45 million signing Timo Werner on the bench. Ziyech perhaps was in more need of a break however, Werner's confidence in front of goal has been shot to pieces. 

Lampard started £71 million signing Kai Havertz for Leicester however, he only lasted 68 minutes for the majority of he was ineffective and was substituted. 

Only goalkeeper Edouard Mendy can claim to be the only the summer signing who is able to emerge with any credit on Tuesday. Even centre-back Thiago Silva had an off day even by his high standards. 

Having such expensive signings of attacking talent on the bench, in a match which Lampard simply had to win perhaps explains the reasons as to why Lampard states his team are not ready to compete at the top of the premier league. 

Despite being handed Havertz by Roman Abramovich  Lampard has been unable to find a position for him in the team despite forcing him to play across the midfield, what's more of a concern is Lampard's inability to get a tune out of the 21 year old.

Lampard's summer signings are struggling to perform when being given starts. When he brings them of the bench they appear to make little to no impact. It is a double-edged sword for Lampard however, this won't cut the muster with owner Roman Abramovich who will want to see a return on his massive investment during the summer transfer window. 

    Players need to step up, can't be all on the manager 

Lampard has seen his fair share of managers come through the doors at Chelsea during his time spent as a player so will know more than anyone that manager will be the first to walk the plank despite the players underperforming. 

The current Chelsea boss finds himself in a run of form which has counted for many of his previous managers when he was player. Even if players step up and fight for the manager  then their is no doubt that Lampard will be spared the sack, particularly for an owner such as Roman Abramovich.

Lampard needs to get a tune out of the players at his disposal with only Mason Mount looking as thought he was putting a shift in, 

Callum Hudson-Odoi worked hard as did Christian Pulisic, however, Chelsea were simply soundly beaten by the superior team and a far well drilled and coached team in Brendan Rodgers Leicester City outfit. 

The warning signs should have been instant with Thiago Silva having to bellow at his team mates for not doing the simplest things. With that said the Brazilian was at fault for James Maddison's open goal as he and Antonio Rudiger were both caught out of position. Reece James didn't fare any better with the right back allowing Maddison to ghost past him whilst ball watching a pass from Marc Albrighton. 

Chelsea's passing throughout the game was abysmal especially from Havertz and Kovacic, whilst every time Leicester attacked the Blues were all over the place defensively. Ben Chilwell had a rough return to his former club, Kovacic was unable to provide protection to the back four leaving Mount to do all of the work in the midfield. 

Halfway through the second half, the in form midfielder showed signs of frustration as another pass from a team mate was wasted. 

After the game Lampard said " I don't believe the players are letting me down as it is not my job to say that to you. There are players who are not performing as well as they should be , its a fact. It was clear to see tonight and only they can deal with it. "Being a player myself for over 20 years when your form isn.t what it should be, there can often be multiple reasons as to why your confidence drops. 

"These are things you have to deal with, how hard you work in training, how your prepare, the ways in which you handle setbacks, these are factors which define you as a football player. there are players currently who find themselves in that position. 

However major setbacks will also define Lampard's status as a Chelsea manager. Either he will get this team out of the sorry state it finds itself in or he won't find himself in a job for much longer.  

 

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