Been reported as false from our correspondents. Personally, I think I have seen enough to suggest Lampard doesn't know what he's doing. The underlying metrics supported him last season but even they have gone to shit. Club is taking a risk by relying on him for these next run of fixtures as I personally haven't seen any positive signs of progression.
I think Costa could have an impact regularly if signed, although not playing every match. A 1 - 0 result over Fulham and 3 points, but it didn't look convincing. Hudson - Odoi is looking good for more minutes, although has to start beating defenders on the outside more and not playing safe all the time. Pulisic and Werner look poor. Pulisic has either come on, made an impact and quickly got injured, or come on and done nothing. Werner looks like the PL is too much for him at the moment. January signings? I'd try and get Costa back, sell Jorghino and sign Declan Rice. Longer term, if Gilmour keeps improving, Kante is starting to look less and less effective, and nowhere near the player he was at his best. With fees for Barkley, Jorghino and Kante, the books would be well balanced.
Lampard has definitely cost the club points this season with some of his selections. The football has been too slow, too predictable, with too many hit and hope crosses. Having said that he has been prepared to make changes, and the line up against Fulham is an example. The style of football has to be quicker and more precise, otherwise Lamps is not going to last.
Leicester 2 v Chelsea 0 An abysmal performance by Chelsea. Reece James didn't look interested and should have got a rollicking from any worthy manager. Others in the team such as Ziyech won't track back and do the dirty work and are just not on the same wavelength as team mates. The amount of sideways and backwards passing is embarrassing. The ship needs a firm, steadying hand, and I don't think that Lampard has the experience or the personality to do that. Mourhino in his early days would have got the team playing exactly as he wanted, as would Conte. The problem with Chelsea as a club is that the players have often been allowed to dictate to the manager, and that has become a toxic culture at the club where managers are forced out by players. The club needs a manager who will be given as much time as they need. This season it looks like qualification for Europe is doubtful, and the season could be a damaging one. As for Lampard, he looks inexperienced as a manager and unsure of himself and what to do. That uncertainty will quickly affect the players, and results could get worse. A solution I think could work, aside from bringing Brendan Rogers back to the club is a joint manager position with Lampard and John Terry. I doubt many players would mess with the manager(s) then. They played well together as players and captains, and why not as joint managers?
Both Matt Law and Simon Philips stating Nagelsmann is the #1 target. Romano also stating Tuchel is a possibility, and the next manager likely to be German.
Nagelsmann would make a lot of sense and he’d be my first choice too. I would still back Lampard until the end of the season and see if he can turn things around but there would need to be a huge improvement for him to last another season. We’ve seen how this season a run of 3/4 wins can see you jump up the table but the performance would need to be there too. What’s frustrating is we’ve spent all this money on attacking players but our attack is just as bad as ever. None of Ziyech, Werner or Havertz are living up to the hype right now and while there’s never any guarantee with transfers all 3 are capable of much better performances, IMO. The positives are the defence has improved - it’s far from perfect but it’s better than last seasons mess - and the academy players are still featuring regularly. But it’s nowhere near enough at the moment.
It's not Lampard's fault though is it, Werner would miss the water if he dived in the sea! It's a shame all of our attackers have been disappointing, even Hudson Odoi who's had his chance the other day and as usual he looks nowhere near how he plays coming on as a sub. I personally think our midfield is really unbalanced, there's no physicality and they all love venturing forward. I don't think 3 in midfield works at all, perhaps we need to return to double pivot, Jorginho and Kovacic excelled playing together last year. After all we have only lost 6 games, which includes Leicester, City, Arsenal, Everton etc, and we're still in the mix for a top four finish. The games against Luton, Wolves and Burnley could turn the season around. I think Frank will be fine and we'll get the season back on track. Despite all the media talk and our current form, we're not at crisis mode imo. I'm really glad Frank is given more time, I'm confident he will turn it around.
Werner was exceptional at the start of the season. I think Lampard's mismanagement of Werner in particular has caused such a significant drop in performances. Hasenhüttl even criticised Lampard's mismanagement of him. Also, if it were Werner alone that was playing terribly, I'd agree. Its everyone. Which points towards the manager and the tactics he wants his players to play. What signs do you see he is capable of doing that? Unfortunately I don't see anything sustainable atm nor any signs of progression.
Good luck to Frank, he'll always be a legend at the club. A bit surprised at the suddenness of the decision, but felt that he had lost his way as manager. There are younger players at the club who would not get near the Liverpool, Man City, Man Utd, Tottenham, Bayern, etc first teams, yet Frank was regularly picking them. It sounds harsh, but it was clear very quickly that some of his favourites are never going to be successful at a top club. For some reason, Frank couldn't or wouldn't accept the obvious. The club now needs a manager who has a very clear idea of how he wants to play, and sticks to it. Klopp was given years at Liverpool and eventually came through. The new manager should be given time.
