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LONDON: Frank Lampard knows the demands of coaching Chelsea with Roman Abramovich more than most, having played for nine different coaches during his playing career at Stamford Bridge.
Now Lampard is the man in the firing line after Sunday’s (3 December) 3-1 loss to Manchester City capped a six-game win streak that appears to have extinguished any hope of a challenge by him. Premier League title.
Much more was expected of the Blues after a 220 million pound ($ 300 million) spending spree in the transfer market at a time when most of the major powerhouses in European football were backing down due to economic effects. of the coronavirus pandemic.
After financing the purchases of Kai Havertz, Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech, Ben Chilwell and Edouard Mendy, Abramovich would have expected more than Chelsea’s eighth place in the table almost mid-season.
Patience has not been a virtue of the Russian’s 18-year reign as Chelsea owner and even a club legend like Lampard, who is the club’s all-time top scorer, is unlikely to have much more time to change the game. situation.
Athletic reported Sunday that Chelsea are already lining up suitable candidates in the event the 42-year-old is fired.
HIGH EXPECTATIONS
Lampard does have some credit in the bank since his first season in charge, leading the club back to the Champions League despite a transfer ban and the sale of Eden Hazard to Real Madrid.
But expectations have changed since the summer spending spree, even if Lampard has always warned that Chelsea will need more time to match the standards set by Liverpool and City in recent seasons.
“Expectations are different this year because everyone looks and says ‘you spent this amount of money,'” Lampard said after a fourth loss in six games.
“The reality is that many of the players who have arrived are new, young, have been injured or have not played together. There are many expectations that are not real.”
But the way to defeat a City team exhausted from coronavirus infections and struggling to score goals this season offered little sign of what Lampard is trying to accomplish.
Chelsea’s failure to launch a title challenge is all the more disappointing as Liverpool and City’s standards have fallen in an unusual season, opening the door for the chasing group.
While Manchester United and Tottenham have stepped up to close the gap, Chelsea is behind Leicester, Aston Villa and Everton, leaving Lampard with the lowest points-per-game tally of any manager in the Abramovich era.
The former English international’s relationship with his players has also been called into question as his public reproach of his attitude and commitment in the 3-1 loss to Arsenal last weekend has failed to elicit the response he expected.
Instead, there were more examples of lethargy as Ziyech watched, as Kevin De Bruyne edged past him to score City’s third goal in 35 minutes.
Lampard’s inability to muster the best of some of his big money purchases has caused concern among the Chelsea hierarchy.
For the fourth straight game, the club’s record signing Havertz appeared only as a substitute in the second half despite his side’s struggles, while Werner, prolific in his time with RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga, has failed to score. in 13 games.
Lampard has been given the tools to build a team capable of far more than they have shown in the last month.
Now time is of the essence to start delivering if you want to protect yourself from the same fate as so many Chelsea coaches who have preceded you.
