Frank Lampard has gone through a disastrous period as interim manager. Photo: Getty Images/Darren Walsh
For Chelsea, the statistics are devastating — five defeats in a row and eight games without a win — but for manager Frank Lampard it's even worse.
Loss at home to Brentford last year This week means Lampard has won just one of the last 19 games he has managed five at Chelsea and before that 14 at Everton.
If Lampard hoped his return to Stamford Bridge would not only be about saving the season at the club he loves and where he rightfully earned legendary player status, but also helping himself get back in the saddle and get another a top managerial position, then — for now — it just didn't work out.
Of course, the dire situation that the acting head coach inherited at Chelsea is a huge mitigating factor and should probably affect future employers. But this situation could also damage the 44-year-old's reputation.
«I was aware of this and I don't think you can live your career with these negatives and what they might mean. «, Lampard said. «My football career has given me a level of comfort that I don't have to worry about.»
“Now I want to win but I don’t think that can mean for me because in my managerial career I have had versions of success and obviously times when I left the clubs and I think it can be quite familiar. history in modern management. So I can't think about it for too long.
Winning matches, or at least not losing them, starts with an away trip to Arsenal on Tuesday. After that, only five matches remained, including meetings with three other clubs from the top four. Then Lampard is on his way.
Lampard (left) believes Arsenal's resurgence under Mikel Arteta sets an example for other clubs. Photo: Getty Images/Ian Walton
He can be forgiven, as he looks at the dugout of the house and sees Mikel Arteta if there is a fit of jealousy. After all, the Arsenal manager was definitely given the time that Lampard didn't get in his first spell at Chelsea, which ended with a sack in January 2021.
Maybe there is also something like a sliding door in the FA Cup final just six months earlier, which was won by Arsenal and which brought Arteta not only the first trophy, but also helped to buy it at that time. If Lampard had won, would Chelsea — then under Roman Abramovich — have been more patient?
Quite likely not — Abramovich's Chelsea have always judged a manager's performance more by league position than by success in the cup — and perhaps Arteta benefited from a long period of inactivity at Arsenal, which the Russian billionaire would not have accepted. As well as Todd Boli and Behdad Egbakhli, who are now in charge of the club.
“I don't think there's always an obvious method, but I think if you're trying to work for something, you're looking at successful models at the top of the league at the moment, and you're seeing managers that have been there for a long time, hiring that suits the type of team and identity they want to bring, and that works in the direction,” Lampard said.
«You see [Manchester] City, Liverpool and Arsenal. So clearly, if you want to get there, this is what I hope matches up. This is not the case for us at the moment.”
This is definitely not the case and it sounded like a message that Lampard was conveying to the Chelsea hierarchy. This clarity, he says, is an advantage of only being a manager for a certain short period of time, rather than trying to work out a four-year contract.
For example, Lampard told them that there must be a «harsh solution» to the problem of not having goals Chelsea, which apparently means eliminating some underperforming strikers and buying at least one high-profile centre-forward.
It's not that Lampard believes the next man, probably Mauricio Pochettino, can be counted on for years to succeed.
Chelsea are so used to winning over long periods of time that perhaps a short period of failure brings a real kickback,” he said. «Maybe with Arsenal, for example, they had quite a few years of not getting what they wanted, so they decided, 'We're going to stick with it and maybe make it work.'
“The pressure is different at times like this, so I don’t think you can say that the next manager should be here for five years, because during that time Chelsea should be successful. But in an ideal world the next manager would bring more stability.
As for Lampard, he is adamant that he will «absolutely» stay at Chelsea until the end of this campaign. “Will I come out a little better than I was, I think, probably, yes,” he said.
“I came out of Chelsea better last time, I came out of Everton better and I will come out of this better again. I'm the manager of Chelsea Football Club and it's not a bad position.
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