Frank Lampard should not have been sacked

 

 “The only thing that has been quite incredible to see is that it was applied to everybody. It was applied for their dearest coach and their most successful coach.”

“So in the end, we have seen nothing different. Roman has sacked basically every coach he had and is no different - it happened even to the best.  The same criteria he applied to me, to Rafa Benitez and for all the other coaches, he has applied to Jose as well. And it's [now] a new chapter.”

That was what former Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas said after Chelsea boss Roman Abramovic sacked Jose Mourinho five years ago.

Mourinho was dismissed by Chelsea just seven months on from his side being crowned champions of England.

The Portuguese boss had seemed to lose the backing of his players during that time, as the Blues endured a horrendous beginning to the Premier League season, one which left them flirting with the relegation zone. Subsequently, Chelsea lost patience and hit the panic button.

Before Mourinho, it was Carlo Ancelotti, who experienced the same fate.

Despite guiding Chelsea to the 2009-10 Premier League title while scoring a record-breaking number of goals and winning the FA Cup, the absence of any trophies in the following season was enough for Abramovich to hand the Italian his marching orders.

Big Luiz Felipe Scolari had taken the team in a slightly different direction by signing Deco to play alongside Frank Lampard in midfield and while Chelsea had developed a habit of losing big games, overall results were relatively encouraging.

In fact, before a loss to Liverpool and a scoreless draw with Hull cost Scolari his job in February, Chelsea had won four games in a row and lost just one of their previous twelve across all competitions.

Then there was Claudio Ranieri, whose biggest mistake was finishing second to arguably the greatest team the Premier League has ever witnessed, Arsenal's legendary Invincibles. That being said, he was given a blank cheque by Abramovich, and yet a lot of his signings - Glen Johnson, Geremi, Wayne Bridge, and Scott Parker - proved to be largely second-rate in comparison to the raft of future superstars Mourinho brought to west London.

What about Roberto Di Matteo, who led Chelsea to win the UEFA Champions League and FA Cup? He was shown the doors even though many felt he deserved a bit more time, but Chelsea have the culture of not having patience with anyone enough.

Today, Frank Lampard has been sacked from his role as Chelsea manager and will be replaced by former Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel. Lampard had been in charge for just over 18 months but leaves following five defeats in the last eight games.

Lampard achieved a top-four finish last season, which was deemed impressive having taken over when the club was under a transfer ban. However, this season Chelsea spent £220 million ($275m) on new signings to try and close the gap between Liverpool and Manchester City.

It hasn't worked, with Timo Werner and Kai Havertz failing to flourish under Lampard while Chelsea's performances as a team were increasingly getting worse.

Club chairman Bruce Buck watched on with technical and performance advisor Petr Cech as Leicester City ran out comfortable 2-0 winners against Lampard's side in their most recent league fixture.

That defeat against Brendan Rogers’ Leicester City hurt everyone and Lampard started to feel the heat.

Chelsea have only beaten West Ham of the top 11 clubs this season while picking up the second-lowest number of points at this stage of a season since Abramovich bought the club in 2003.

Lampard earned 1.67 points per match in the league, which is the lowest of any manager appointed since Abramovich bought Chelsea.

Since Abramovich became the owner, the Blues have seen 14 managerial stints (both full time and on a long term interim basis) in 17 years. The longest anyone has lasted under the Russian’s reign has been Jose Mourinho’s first stint for just over three seasons.

The club, which has a history of brutal sackings, the sacking of Lampard is no surprise, but still, the fans and experts believe, the Chelsea legend deserved more time to regroup this team.

Lampard was bold enough to take the job during the transfer ban and took several players that had only played in the Championship the year prior and integrated them into the first team while achieving top four.

The story of Lampard this season has been no different from Mikel Arteta and OleGunnar Solskjaer. Arsenal and Manchester United experienced nightmares at the start and the lean-patch prolonged, still the respective hierarchy persisted with their managers and now the sailing seems smooth. The fate of Lampard was sad and it was not necessary. He needed time to fix this team, but in Stamford Bridge, they don’t give you time and demands results quickly – the philosophy does not make any sense, still, the owner of the club loves to persist with it.

Lampard was the ideal coach for this Chelsea side and sacking him is a mistake.

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 25/01/2021 Frank Lampard should not have been sacked

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Faisal Caesar