Chelsea: Assessing Frank Lampard halfway through his initial contract

2. Team management

We’re a year and a half into Lampard’s tenure with the team and no player has cropped him out using emojis, so that’s a start. All jokes aside, Lampard has handled his team extremely well. Being a former superstar himself, there weren’t many doubts he’d be able to do so, but his man management has been superb.

Throughout his 18-month spell in charge, he’s only had two questionable relationships with players. The first being David Luiz, who he promptly shipped out to Arsenal on deadline day back in the summer of 2019. Luiz and Lampard are likely still mates off the pitch, regardless of what happened behind closed doors, which means this contentious connection is likely anything but. The young manager was extremely clear as to what the veteran defender’s role was in the upcoming season and when he wasn’t satisfied or willing to take a lesser spot in the squad, Lampard kicked him to the curb.

The third-year coach has built a culture around the club centered around giving one’s all for the badge. He tolerates nothing less—and it shows. The other broken link in the chain is between the manager and Marcos Alonso. Alonso attempted to watch the second half of a brutal bout at West Brom from the bus after being pulled off at halftime. This didn’t sit well with the man in charge, especially considering Mateo Kovacic displayed perfect behavior after also taking an early shower on the day. Lampard has seldom even given Alonso a place in the matchday squad since, proving that he believes no individual is bigger than the club.

Lampard has also given more minutes to young players than any of his predecessors. Fans have watched countless young talents walk out the door—you know the names: Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah, etc.—in recent years due to lack of first team opportunities. The Blues have also seen players like Jeremie Boga, Bertrand Traore, Declan Rice and Jamal Musiala depart the academy for numerous reasons and go on to ball out for another club. Something had to change or Cobham would become a graveyard for young talent.

Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham, Reece James, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Billy Gilmour and Fikayo Tomori have all found their way into the first team with multiple developmental side players making debuts in the last two seasons, as well. Lampard has opened the door for academy stars to make their way into the senior side and that’s something will continue to benefit the Blues, even long after Lampard has departed. Not to mention, multiple of the aforementioned academy graduates now have a pathway to becoming world class players in Lampard’s Chelsea side.

Another impressive part of Lampard’s man management is his pull power. Players like Timo Werner and Kai Havertz cited the desire to be a part of something special under Lampard as one of the main reasons for choosing Chelsea. The midfield legend relates to the budding talent and they want to play under a middle of the park maestro. Lampard knows what it means to win and he’ll stop at nothing to get the best out of his players, help them develop and most importantly, capture titles.

Lastly, he’s handled the PR side of things to perfection. There is the occasional media “rant”—for lack of a better term—but Lampard has remained composed and largely kept the headlines away from himself. He handles things behind closed doors and doesn’t make a fool of himself in the public eye, which is much more than other managers can say. Lampard will seldom throw his players under the bus or even go as far as to criticize them in the media. Instead, he attempts to boost their confidence and maintain good relationships with the men he leads. The best example of this is his handling of the Kepa Arrizabalaga situation. Despite being one of the world’s worst goalkeepers last season and being frozen out of the side this year, Lampard won’t speak ill of his former No. 1; instead electing to praise the work ethic of the Spaniard.

Nobody is perfect—not even Lampard. Although there is the occasional blip where the manager will slip up and make a mistake, be it tactically or socially, he’s done a superb job playing peacemaker in one of the most stressful jobs in world football.