Frank
Lampard defended his "transitional" Chelsea side's form but said he was
unsurprised his future would be questioned after a fifth defeat in eight.
Lampard's Blues are nine points off the Premier League summit after a 2-0
defeat to Leicester on Tuesday night, with their hosts top of the table
while his own team sit eighth - sandwiched between West Ham and Southampton.
That comes despite the club spending more than £200m on transfers in the
summer, and with a title challenge looking a realistic aim little more than
a month ago.
Since then, seven points from eight games have left them woefully short of
form.
Asked about his future, Lampard told Sky Sports: "It's not my decision,
that's something that will always be there. You always understand some
things are beyond your control. Things you can control are going again,
lifting the players and working hard. That, I can't answer.
"It intensified for me a while ago - expectations at this club, right or
wrong, are always high. I know we're in a different position if you look at
our squad today and the age in our squad, and look at the composition of our
squad, it's a new squad. I keep talking about transition, but when you
perform like that it's normal that people ask questions."
Chelsea had been within touching distance of the top of the table before
back-to-back defeats to Everton and Wolves sparked an alarming run of form,
something Lampard himself admitted had left him taken aback in the space of
just 40 days.
"I'm worried," he admitted. "From the form we were in to get so quickly into
the form we're in, even with the Fulham win, we should be better than that.
Five losses in eight, that's not where we want to be, it's going to take a
lot of character to return from that.
"They were sleeping moments, but there were quite a lot in the first half
where our sharpness wasn't there. Sometimes that relates to poor form, but
those are moments where you have to dig in. The basics and the bare minimums
are to run, sprint and cover ground - too many of our players didn't do it."
Redknapp: Chelsea 'too soft'
Jamie Redknapp said there were a "lot of things to not like" about Chelsea's
performance at the King Power Stadium but said replacing Lampard as manager
would be a poor decision from the club hierarchy.
He told
Sky Sports: "I hate to use the word project, but when you
bring in lots of new players, it's almost like you're a kid in a candy shop.
You've got all the players, but where do you play them, how do they fit in,
players coming from another country you hope will hit the ground running -
Havertz and Werner haven't - you can't legislate for that.
"This will upset Frank more than anything, because he was as hard-working a
player as I've ever seen, it's that one or two of them are a little bit
soft. You never want to be labelled as a soft team, a team that doesn't run
enough, work hard, win battles.
"That can come down to confidence, but one or two of them are just doing
enough and you can't do that when playing for Chelsea. They've had a
situation where managers come and go, you can't fault it because they've
done so well out of it.
"There's always pressure, Frank knows that. He knew going to a club like
that, if you have a bad run, because he's Frank Lampard, it doesn't mean
anything. They'd be mad to not give someone time when you bring in all these
new players, you can't just have knee-jerk reactions. Things aren't good
right now, you can't deny it. But they will improve given time, someone will
get the best out of this squad. I think Frank, because of his knowledge of
the game and how he sees it will get it right."
Rodgers: Too early for title talk
Leicester have not been top of the Premier League this late into a season
before - except once. That time, less than five years ago, they went onto
win the title in one of the most historic campaigns in living memory.
After their latest victory on Tuesday night, they sit top of the pile again,
albeit Manchester United and Manchester City could both overtake them should
they win their games in hand. But manager Brendan Rodgers dismissed any talk
of a title challenge as being too early, as his side wrapped up their first
half of the season with three points.
He told BBC Sport: "It is still too early. But it shows in the first part of
the season consistency has been good and performance levels have been very
high.
"This gives the belief to the players. It keeps the momentum going and keeps
the concentration. In order to stay there at the top you need desire and
hunger and I feel we have seen that from the team."
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