Premier League seasons are made or broken over pivotal runs of results. After Chelsea’s recent run of poor form, their season is broken.
A month ago, Frank Lampard and his Chelsea team were being talked about as title contenders.
They were in and around the top of the table with one of the best squads in Europe.
Following their slip to 9th in the table, the limitations of Frank Lampard as a coach are once again under the microscope.
The punditocracy has been aware of Lampard’s shortcomings for quite some time now. If his recent comments are anything to go by, he is aware of them too.
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“The process is sometimes tough… You would’ve seen that perhaps in year one, two or three at Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp, year one under Pep Guardiola.
“We’re in a little period. A five-, six-game period that none of us like. I think if you go back to the first year of City, in this regime, or Liverpool, there were periods of pain. And you have to fight through that.”
Frank Lampard is a son of the old-school English football culture. He’s tough, straight talking and confrontational. He does not truly believe that he’s going to blossom into a Guardiola or Klopp figure.
Coaches like Klopp and Guardiola are rare. That’s why they’re the best of their generation. Lampard knows that in just his third season as a coach, their level is some way off for him.
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Comparing himself to them isn’t hubris or cluelessness. It’s a plea to the Chelsea hierarchy to give him more time. The type of plea coaches make when they’re feeling the pressure.
Unfortunately for Lampard, Chelsea is not a patient club. If he wasn’t a legendary player, he may already have been shown the door, because the writing is on the wall.
He took Chelsea to Champions League qualification. However in the F.A Cup final he was coached off the pitch by rookie coach Mikel Arteta.
Now, he’s failing to coax fluidity out of one of the most talented, balanced and crucially, expensive squads in the world. There are a number of proven top level coaches available right now should Chelsea choose to pull the trigger.
