FRANK LAMPARD: THE CLUB LEGEND THAT GAVE HIS ALL.
As a Devoted Chelsea Fan for 15+ years , this is by far the most difficult article I have ever written, never did I imagine that the man in the middle of it all, Frank Lampard after his fairytale appointment as manager of Chelsea football club in July 2019, a club which he enjoyed so much success with as a player would fall victim to the axe of Roman Abramovich, but even Lampard himself would admit, this was a very difficult job to take on and I will explain why he didn’t make as much impact as a manager like he did in his playing days.
Off the back of a relatively successful first season in charge, Considering the circumstances by which he was appointed, with just one full season of management under his belt (in the championship). He inherited a team that had just lost it’s talisman Eden Hazard to Real Madrid and were subjected to a transfer ban by FIFA, he had to rely heavily on academy players and against all odds he led the club to a champions league position, his debut season as manager of the Blues could have even ended better if Chelsea were not on the wrong side of Anthony Taylor’s poor officiating in the FA Cup final, Lampard was extremely disappointed to lose the match to Mikel Arteta’s side.
Moving into the 2020/2021 season Lampard was given a financial war chest of £200m which he used to upgrade his team. Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz were all brought in to add creativity and cutting Edge which was absent in his first season in charge due to the departure of Eden Hazard. Ben Chilwell, Thiago Silva and Eduardo Mendy were also brought in to sure up a defense that leaked in a staggering 54 goals in the premier league in the 2019/2020 campaign. Unfortunately for the club Legend, the campaign didn’t go as planned, an unlucky sequence of lack of pre season, injures to key players ( Pulisic and Ziyech), the continuous misfiring of Timo Werner in front of goal, the dressroom unrest from players who felt they were left out of the bloated squad contributed to the downfall of a man who has nothing but genuine love for the club. In his time as Head coach of Chelsea FC Lampard gave the most minutes to the academy graduates. Players like Reece James, Callum Hudson Odoi, Fikayo Tomori (Now at Ac Milan) and Fa Cup team Captain Mason Mount emerged under him. “Super Frankie” as he is fondly called by the Shed End, had a fair share of memorable moments as Chelsea’s coach. The dramatic 4–4 draw against Ajax in the champions league, the Double over spurs in the 2019/2020 campaign are games that the Chelsea faithful won’t forget in a hurry. He will be fondly missed and hopefully. Some day he will return to lead his team again. We wish him the best in the future.
Written by Joseph Whyte Ukor
For Sun Chelsea Magazine UK and Final Football, USA.
