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Frank Lampard’s job at Chelsea is seriously threatened with the club in eighth place after four losses in six Premier League games, according to reports.
The Blues were comfortably beaten 3-1 by Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City on Sunday night to compound Lampard’s recent troubles at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea had slumped on the table after previous losses to Everton, Wolves, Arsenal, but the West Londoners are now behind Everton and Aston Villa on the table with both sides having games in hand on Lampard’s side.
And according to The Athletic, the Blues are looking for alternative options for Chelsea’s head coach job following Lampard’s recent form at Stamford Bridge.
The report says Chelsea are concerned about the form of new attacking signings Timo Werner and Kai Havertz, who were part of a £ 253 million rebuild at Stamford Bridge over the summer.
Former RB Leipzig forward Werner is now scoreless in nine league games despite scoring 28 goals in 34 games for the German club last season.
Meanwhile, Havertz’s £ 89m signing has scored in just two Chelsea games since joining Bayer Leverkusen, and Lampard knocked the 21-year-old out of the starting lineup in his last four league games.
New signings Hakim Ziyech and Ben Chilwell have impressed in places, although they have struggled with injuries, while the novelty of Thiago Silva and Edouard Mendy reinforcing the defense has worn off after recent defeats.
Athletic also claim that tensions are rising between Lampard and various members of Chelsea’s first team squad following public criticism during the busy winter schedule.
Lampard answered questions about his future after the latest loss to Manchester City, which saw Guardiola’s side advance 3-0 at halftime, but admitted he was not worried about their immediate future.
He told reporters: ‘I understand that the moment they lose a few games in a short period of time, everyone watches and asks questions. Then everyone sees it differently and says you spent so much money.
I will always feel the heat. I felt the heat when we were on our hot streak because I know there may be something negative around the corner.
‘I am not going to speak for the people above me because I can never do that. That’s why I couldn’t answer a month ago about my new contract, I can’t answer what they are thinking now, but it is what it is.
“My job is to focus on work, not what they are thinking, that would distract me and I can’t do it.”
Lampard is a Chelsea legend after scoring a record 211 goals for the Blues in his playing days, while also having a special relationship with owner Roman Abramovich.
The 42-year-old was handed the Chelsea head coach job just one year into his senior management career in the summer of 2019, with the Blues in the midst of a transfer ban when Lampard was appointed.
Chelsea’s head coach secured a top-four result last season and helped the Blues reach the FA Cup final, but has struggled to improve on that platform this season.
The West Londoners are three points behind the top four but may fall to ninth if Southampton avoids defeat to Liverpool on Monday night.
Chelsea are also just three points ahead of London rivals Arsenal, who had their worst league start in 50 years, although Mikel Arteta’s side have won their last three games.
Rumors about a possible replacement for Lampard circulated during the final week of 2020 when the German newspaper Bild claimed that Chelsea would be interested in bringing in Thomas Tuchel as coach following his dismissal at PSG.
The report from Germany stated that Tuchel would be willing to move to Stamford Bridge to work with Werner, Havertz and defender Antonio Rudiger.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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