The new manager tango has begun in some corners. If Chelsea can’t stick with Frank Lampard, fans can give up on sticking with anyone.
Liverpool under Brendan Rodgers was a pretty team that never looked like it could be more. Tottenham under any number of managers weren’t even in consideration for a top six. Manchester City was a giant under Manuel Pellegrini, but not a juggernaut.
Point being, clubs do not change overnight or in a season. Mauricio Pochettino may never have won silverware with Spurs, but he actually made them relevant. It took years for Jurgen Klopp to turn Liverpool into the team they are now. Guardiola needed a season and tons of transfers for his City to settle too. The common denominator is time.
Chelsea’s board has been better about time since Jose Mourinho’s second stint. Less so the fans. Some corners are already sharing their shortlists as if anyone would be crazy enough to join a club that sacks a legend this early. Even beyond that, it ignores the individual mistakes and lack of game management that have been prevalent at Chelsea for years. If the club can’t give someone like Frank Lampard reasonable time to work, then the club and fans should give up on giving anyone time.
This is not to say Lampard is Guardiola or Klopp or even Pochettino. It is not to say that he is perfect. It is simply to say that five games into the season is not the time to start freaking out regardless of how many issues carry over from the previous season. Lampard is not the perfect tactical manager but it is extremely hard to blame tactics when a player like Kurt Zouma passes the ball back to the keeper in the worst circumstances. It is hard to blame the plan when that keeper rushes out to claim the ball and then hesitates for no real reason. It is hard to blame the tactics when the team comes out after a great first half and looks like they just met at half time.
Antonio Conte faced this issue in his second season, and despite a title and a FA Cup, he was not given the benefit of the doubt for more. Jose Mourinho faced this problem on the back end of his last title as well as his disaster year. Eden Hazard had to drag the team to the title because they couldn’t be made to win if they wanted to. It goes back to Rafa Benitez’s team blowing leads and further. These are systematic issues not of one manager, but of the club across several managers.
Beyond any of that, if you’re a coach looking for a new job, a Chelsea team that pushes out arguably their greatest ever player without at least two full seasons (if not three) is not an appealing team. Especially if the reason he is pushed out is less tactical and more players deciding they are going to glitch out and relearn how to walk midgame.
If Frank Lampard is sacked in the middle of this season, there is not going to be a Mauricio Pochettino or Julian Nagelsmann or Erik ten Hag or Max Allegri or Nuno Espirito Santo next season. Chelsea would be a poisoned chalice not worth considering. No, Chelsea would end up with some subpar manager looking for a risky rebuild or some low cost stop gap. Chelsea would look little different than Manchester United the last five years, scrapping out relevancy in anyway they can.
Lampard doesn’t deserve to be blasted and replaced mentally or otherwise after five games into a season. Are dropped points to West Brom and Southampton bad? Sure. Are they any worse than losing 7-2 to Aston Villa or 5-2 to Leicester City? Nope. Lampard deserves time. Full stop, no ifs, ands or buts. Save the freak outs for when there is actually enough on the board to freak out about. Save the next manager short lists when sacking Lampard wouldn’t turn every single member away. Or, better yet, just back Lampard in a reasonable way.