Chelsea’s only win win situation is to wait it out with Frank Lampard

Frank Lampard is closer to the brink than he’s ever been as Chelsea manager. The club’s only win win situation is to wait the storm out and see the damage.

When the club hired Frank Lampard, it came after several weeks of hesitation. One of the little mentioned reasons for that was fear. The board knew what a potential Frank Lampard sacking would look like and it might not be worth the risk. The board did take that risk and it paid off, at least until recently.

Chelsea’s recent torpedoing of form has put Lampard as close to the sack as he’s ever been as a manager. There are plenty of reasons why the board might hit the eject button if things do not change with the primary one being how much backing Lampard got over the summer and how, in this year of all years, top four cannot be a question. Chelsea has weathered the Covid virus better than most, but after spending the way they did they cannot afford the hit of no Champions League.

That being said, if the board is looking for a win win situation, all signs point towards patience. Chelsea is in a storm right now but the full extent of the damage won’t be revealed for some time yet. It would suit the club best overall to wait until that damage is better known before changing for the sake of change.

First of all, top four is a must. But the club really needs to ask if a brand new manager unfamiliar with the team would be better poised to obtain top four than the manager who has worked with them for 18 months. If this bad run of form is going to be held against Lampard, then so should the 17 match unbeaten run that came before it. This would be different if there was a fallout with the players, but any fallout seems to be isolated to players already earmarked to leave. It just makes more sense that Lampard would know how to get this squad over the line than a manager having to learn everything about the players in the same time period.

Furthermore, no sacking should be made without a contingency already in place. The Blues don’t have one and if they do, it takes the form of Thomas Tuchel and Max Allegri. The main thing both have going in their favor is they are free, but they both have a history of fighting with their boards. The Chelsea board lost the stomach for that power struggle after Antonio Conte. It would be extremely odd and foolhardy to think they could tame anyone with a history of infighting now.

In addition, neither particularly fits the squad. Dortmund fans and Paris Saint-Germain fans both criticize Tuchel’s style of play and confusing lineups. That’s already happening with Lampard so that seems a pointless change. Allegri is more flexible with his squads, but his record with youth is poor and he often leans on a more pragmatic style the board seemingly wants to move away from.

But perhaps most importantly is that in just five months, a much larger managerial market will open to Chelsea. There is a much greater chance of getting a manager that would suit the squad such as Julian Nagelsmann or Ralph Hasenhuttl than there is now. But that situation also offers the Blues the real win win of it all; the potential of a Frank Lampard turn around.

Chelsea signed on with Lampard for a three year plan. The club is just past the halfway point. Things are dire right now, but managers in similar dire situations like Mikel Arteta and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have both shown a dire week can quickly turn into a great one. This season especially where teams are all struggling and on top of each other there is a great margin for error.

Top four can’t be risked, but it’s not in risk yet either. It isn’t as close as it was, but there is ample time for Lampard to catch back up. Then the club can get into the summer and survey the damage with Lampard before making a decision. It would also be a much more amicable time to split for legend and club in the summer than midseason. Furthermore, on that note, potential managers would be less turned off by the sight of a legend sacked in the summer for failing to get top four (or even barely scrapping it out) than they would be by seeing that same legend sacked without a chance.

That’s Chelsea’s win win. They either stick with Lampard after a revival, or they find a more opportune time to split when managers that will actually be good for Chelsea besides having a pulse are available. Anything else would be like picking door number one because it has a TV behind it when door number three has a new car and that same TV.