During his second stint as interim manager of Chelsea, Frank Lampard has admitted that he witnessed a number of developments that he deemed to be “not right.”
The legendary Blues player was brought in as caretaker manager in April 2023, following Graham Potter’s disastrous seven-month tenure as head coach of the Blues.
This was Lampard’s second stint at the club, following his previous 18-month stint from the summer of 2019 to January 2022. However, the circumstances were very different this time around. The former Derby manager was greeted by a team that was lacking in both quality and confidence, and a number of stars were uncertain about whether or not they would be playing for the club the following season.
As he reflected on his time at the club, the manager who is now at Coventry admitted that he was taken aback by what he witnessed from the Chelsea team.
In an interview with Sky Sports, Lampard stated, “I saw things that I know cannot be right at elite football, and that is simply the truth.”
“It was difficult to establish a plan when you are going to be leaving, so working during that brief period was not something I particularly enjoyed doing. However, Chelsea will always be a significant club in my life.
However, when I consider the standards of Chelsea, I realise that during that time period, a great number of players were in the process of leaving the club, and there were issues with motivation and other issues. In an interim period, it is difficult to have a significant impact on those factors.
I am experienced enough to know what is right and what is wrong, as well as the fundamental things that need to be done in a training ground on a pitch. When you see the results of it, you will see!
“I didn’t learn anything tactical but it did reinforce my beliefs of all my experiences of when you know what a group is really fighting in the same direction – how strong that can be and when it’s not, it can be really challenging.”
The second stint that Lampard had with Chelsea resulted in the club finishing the season in the 12th position in the Premier League.
At the time that he took charge, the club was ranked eleventh in the table.
Following the acquisition of the Blues by Todd Boehly in the summer of 2022, the club had gone through a significant period of transition, during which they had spent a staggering £550 million on new players.
This consisted of seventeen players who were signed for the first team during the 2022–2023 basketball season.
However, after Lampard took over as interim manager, Chelsea went through yet another summer of turmoil, with fourteen senior players leaving the club and ten players joining Stamford Bridge.
After he parted ways with the Blues, Lampard remained absent from the sport for a period of seventeen months before making his return to management with Coventry City in November of 2024.
Lampard has led Coventry to enter play-off contention with the club currently sitting in fifth place with seven matches remaining in the regular season. This is despite the fact that the Sky Blues are hovering just above the relegation zone in the Championship.
Lampard will be eager to make his return to the Premier League with the Sky Blues, despite the fact that they are currently performing well ahead of schedule.
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