
Sky
Sports pundit Paul Merson provides his reaction to the news that Chelsea
have sacked head coach Frank Lampard after a run of five defeats from eight
Premier League games...
As a Chelsea fan, I find it a bit disappointing decision.
You have to give Frank Lampard a chance. He pulled up trees last season to
get them in the Champions League, and they are still in the competition this
season.
They have had a bad run. They've brought in a lot of players and Lampard is
working with the best group of players he's worked with, but most of them
play in the same position.
For me, they had to give him a chance.
Did Chelsea think they were going to buy a 21-year-old kid from Germany in
Kai Havertz, another forward from Germany in Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech and a
36-year-old defender in Thiago Silva and just win the league?
Did they really think they were going to finish above the likes of
Liverpool, Man City and Man Utd just like that?
In this league at the moment, especially with no fans, it's difficult. When
the fans are at Stamford Bridge, they are full behind Frank because he is a
legend at the club. It's a different kettle of fish.
At the moment, it's easy street for the players. If the fans are there, they
are cheering Frank's name. They are backing him come what may and the
players would see that and know he's there for the long haul. They'd see
what a legend he is to the club.
However, the players, the likes of Havertz and Werner, they won't know what
Lampard means to Chelsea.
I'm disappointed. How are we going to get these managers - the likes of
Lampard - any experience at all?
No one wanted that job last year when Frank took it. He performed miracles
last season to get that team into the top four last season.
The problems he's had are the money that was spent and the players that were
bought in virtually play in the same position.
Nobody knows what his best team is. If we sat down ahead of Liverpool's or
Man Utd's biggest game of the season, half of us could name their starting
line-ups and the others would probably be one player out. If we did it for
Chelsea, I'd be surprised if any of us would get the line-up, and that was
the worry.
He's got Christian Pulisic, he's got Ziyech, he's got Havertz and he's got
Werner. He's got four players there who virtually all play in the same
position. He stuck with 4-3-3 but it was crying out for Chelsea to play
three at the back. Sticking with the 4-3-3 was probably his undoing in the
end.
Roman Abramovich statement
"This was a very difficult decision for the club, not least because I have
an excellent personal relationship with Frank and I have the utmost respect
for him.
“He is a man of great integrity and has the highest of work ethics. However,
under current circumstances we believe it is best to change managers.
“On behalf of everyone at the club, the Board and personally, I would like
to thank Frank for his work as head coach and wish him every success in the
future. He is an important icon of this great club and his status here
remains undiminished. He will always be warmly welcomed back at Stamford
Bridge.”
It's another ruthless decision from Chelsea.
To be fair, the plan has worked over the years. They had Carlo Ancelotti
come in and do what he did but he was gone. He's one of the top managers of
all time let alone now. When Ancelotti can go, anyone can go.
But you need a plan. You can't keep going bang, wallop and crash. I feel for
Frank Lampard. You start looking at it now and think, were they his players?
Look at Havertz, Lampard never really played him like he was his player. If
players come in and you want them as a manager, you just play them. You want
them to do well.
Looking back now, it looks like Lampard was a bit of a stop-gap. I worry
now. Where is Lampard going to go now? You can't forget what he did last
season. I do still think you need that bit of experience around you, but I
think it's wrong.
I don't like when these owners get rid of managers when the next two games
are winnable. Let's be honest, I can go into Chelsea this week and have a
chance of getting a result against Wolves and Burnley.
That's what I don't like. Someone now comes in, wins the two games and
everyone says that's why Frank's not there anymore.
Nobody expected Chelsea to get into the Champions League last season.
Nobody.
They'd just finished nowhere, Eden Hazard - who was their best player by a
million miles - had just left, they couldn't bring anyone in, and someone
was expected to come in and take that team into the top four. It was an
impossible job on paper and Lampard shouldn't have been far off in getting
manager of the year.
People will say he had the players but he didn't have Hazard, who at the
time was one of the best players in the world.
Can Tuchel control Chelsea dressing room?
So, Thomas Tuchel is coming in. You've got to remember that he could not
control the players at Paris Saint-Germain. The likes of Neymar and Kylian
Mbappe did what they wanted. They just played.
You can't say that this guy is going to come in and just sort the players
out at Chelsea. Can he get Havertz playing? Can he get Werner and Ziyech
playing? He didn't do it with the players at PSG. It's not like he's coming
in and you think, 'he's going to scare these players'.
I watched PSG a few times under him. They didn't track back, and I didn't
see much of a plan.
Tuchel has got a nice two games coming up. They've just beat Luton and Tammy
Abraham has a bit of confidence behind him after scoring a hat-trick.
They've got Wolves and Burnley coming up and if you beat them, all of a
sudden you move up the table and it is a different game.
It's three wins on the trot in all competitions and the confidence starts
flowing again. Who knows then? Chelsea could be back to where they were just
before they went to Everton.
It's all about confidence. Tuchel has got to get the team he wants at
Chelsea, and I think he'll get that because he's got time.
He's not coming to Stamford Bridge for five games. Within two weeks he'll
have his best XI and he'll stick with it for four or five games. He won't
start chopping and changing. Coming in, he'll know his best XI and that's
the difference.
He's got time now and he'll know he needs to get a settled team as quickly
as possible because if he doesn't, it'll be the same old story.
Chelsea are where Manchester United were six weeks ago. They went out of the
Champions League and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was gone. They were going to
Everton and it seemed like he was gone if he didn't get a result at Goodison
Park.
They got a result and now look where they are. They are top of the league
thanks to some consistency. That's all it is. Tottenham were up at the top
heading to Liverpool.
They were going to win at Anfield to make a massive statement, but they lost
and know they are out of the top four. Man City had a bad run and now they
are on a roll. Everyone has had it.
Lampard had a nice two games coming up to get back on track. I find it
really disappointing he's not getting that chance.
Where next for Lampard?
I do not know where Lampard goes from here. Will he manage again?
He's just been managing one of the biggest teams in the Premier League and
one of the biggest clubs in Europe in terms of the players they have and the
amount of money they have to spend. The owner is one of the richest about,
so you are managing an unbelievable football club with unbelievable
football, players.
I really don't know what happens now for him. Will he want to go back to the
Championship? I don't think so.
People can talk about the money that has been spent and how it should be
better, but Frank did enough last season to earn the right, with another
half of the season to go, to try and turn this around.
Who's to say he couldn't have won 13 of the last 19 games? This season in
the premier league it has been proved that you can do it. You just have to
find consistency. Look at United, they were where Chelsea were.
People would tell me Chelsea are out of it but if you string together five
or six wins, you can get back up there.
'Three at the back the way forward for
Chelsea'
This decision was made after the Leicester defeat.
It was a poor display, but again, Lampard went with 4-3-3. After this game,
this is where you develop experience and learn. He probably now thinks he
should have been a bit more flexible and stopped going with the 4-3-3
formation.
After covering the Leicester defeat for Sky, I wrote down 'a lorry load of
ball players, no ball winners'. You can't have that against this Leicester
team. They are a very good team.
The team he picked that night was a team to play Sheffield United at home. -
a lot of attacking players and no holding midfielder. A team to take the
game to an opponent because you are a better team, but that's not the case
with Leicester. You have to go there and start from a base, but it was
really poor.
Chelsea have really missed N'Golo Kante, for sure, but I keep coming back to
three at the back. This manager coming in now could switch to three at the
back and they could go on a run.
You've got Edouard Mendy in goal, you play Reece James and Ben Chilwell, who
are two of the best in the business as wings-backs, you play Cesar
Azpilicueta on one side, Kurt Zouma or Antonio Rudiger and Thiago Silva in
the middle.
Then you play Kante and Mason Mount in the midfield two with Havertz behind
the front two, who may be Abraham and Werner.
Chelsea have the players to play three at the back. People will say what
about Pulisic and Ziyech, but they've got a lorry load of players. Someone
has got to miss out.
'Chelsea lost patience with Lampard
project'
Analysis from Sky Sports' Peter Smith:
It was supposed to be different this time.
When Chelsea appointed Frank Lampard in the summer of 2019, the indication
was they had moved to break their ruthless hire and fire cycle.
Chelsea legend Lampard seemed a fitting figurehead for the project. While he
was still green in terms of his own managerial career, he had that
intangible quality of knowing the club and knew what these young players
would have to go through to become winners at the highest level.
Frank Lampard's points-per-game average of 1.67 is the fourth lowest of any
permanent Chelsea manager in the Premier League.
Considering it was nine years into his own playing career before he lifted a
trophy, he knew the importance of time and patience, too.
It was an intriguing journey Lampard and his players were embarking on. An
experiment to see whether things could be done differently in west London.
But Chelsea have pulled the plug on the process and Lampard has been sacked
18 months after his appointment.
Chelsea's next five fixtures
If Thomas Tuchel is in place by Wednesday, as Chelsea hope, then he will
have back-to-back home matches to start - against Wolves and Burnley.
Then comes a huge test for the new boss as the Blues go to Jose Mourinho's
Tottenham, before a trip to bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United and a FA
Cup fifth-round tie at Barnsley.
Wed Jan 27 - Wolves (H) PL 6pm
Sun Jan 31 - Burnley (H) PL 12pm
Thur Feb 4 - Tottenham (A) PL 8pm
Sat Feb 6 - Sheff Utd (A) PL 3pm
Wed Feb 10 - Barnsley (A) FA Cup 7.45pm