It’s not talked about nearly enough that Frank Lampard took a huge risk taking over Chelsea. Here was a club that had reached one of its lowest points in the relationship between fans and club under Maurizio Sarri, that had just lost their by and far best player, and that had a transfer ban. The Cobham kids were long overdue a chance, but it still took something different to come in during those circumstances and trust in them.
Then take all of that after one year in management at Derby County and Lampard was risking it all. Few outside of Chelsea expected the Blues to crack top four under the new management and in the circumstances the club was in. But Lampard believed, not just in himself but also the club, and took the chance. Though it would ultimately end less than ideally after 18 months, Lampard built foundations that Chelsea will be supported by for years to come.
Former Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has shown his bravery already. But is he brave enough to take over the Everton train wreck? That’s the next question as he has been linked to yet another vacant Premier League job. Lampard has either turned down or been rejected by other Premier League clubs, but Everton is a different beast entirely.
Everton is like a dark alternative dimension version of Chelsea in many ways. They are a club that had a solid history of also rans and then found money. Whereas Chelsea used that money wisely on managers and players to build an empire, Everton has largely squandered it on the next big thing. As such, they have become a Frankenstein club of several managers’ ideas and a who’s who of once promising up and coming talents. Managers like Roberto Martinez, Ronald Koeman, and Carlo Ancelotti have all occasionally made Everton look okay, only to see everything collapse down.
In a sense, taking over at Everton would require a similar (if not greater) level of bravery from Lampard. It is not a club set up to succeed in the short term. If anything, it is a club that has to separate the wheat from the chafe before it can even begin to think of anything else. Those many ideas of former managers need to be synchronized or removed from the club. In a way, that is not too dissimilar to Chelsea after the diverging viewpoints of Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri.
Lampard wouldn’t have as strong of an academy to draw from either. Everton’s academy is by no means bad and they do have a decent track record of first team integration, but they lack players of Mason Mount or Reece James’ ability. They could fill gaps in the market, but years of bad buys will make it difficult for Everton to A: get it right and B: buy much of anyone at all.
For Lampard personally, his next job was always going to be a big test. He did well with the circumstances at Chelsea and hindsight doesn’t change that. He’s earned a shot at a Premier League job nearly anywhere in the table. But simply earning a shot is not enough. His next job has to be a sure thing for him to succeed. Everton is anything but.
Rafa Benitez may be a bit of an old school manager now, but he is not a bad one. Him failing at Everton is not a reflection on him as much as it is the team. But Lampard doesn’t have the luxury of an extensive managerial record to point to like Benitez. Should Lampard fail at Everton, which is not unlikely, then that may be it for his managerial career in the Premier League for some time.
But fortune favors the bold and Lampard is used to taking risks. Though it’s not likely that he would get the job over the likes of Wayne Rooney or Roberto Martinez, if he is offered, don’t be surprised if he decides to take his chances and be brave once more.