Frank Lampard has opened up on how his brief spell as Chelsea manager unraveled just under a year ago to Gary Neville.
The 42-year-old club legend, Frank Lampard, made 648 appearances for Chelsea and won the Champions League and three Premier League titles during his play career. However, he only lasted just 18 months in the dugout at Stamford Bridge.
Lampard had a promising first season that saw him promote a batch of youngsters to the first team as a result of the club’s FIFA-imposed transfer band. Unfortunately, his spell came to a quick end in January.
He left with Chelsea ninth in the Premier League, having won once in their previous five league matches. But he did manage to secure fourth place and reached the FA Cup final in his first season in charge, losing to Arsenal at Wembley.
Speaking on Gary Neville’s YouTube Channel, Lampard lifted the lid on how his final stages as Chelsea manager played out. The Englishman also included the moment he received a text from chairman Bruce Buck that spelt the beginning of the end – just as he woke up.
He said, “well, we’d beaten Luton in the FA Cup fourth round or whatever it was. Then the next morning I got a message from Bruce Buck, the chairman, saying ‘can you move from training and come and meet us in the boardroom?’ I knew straight away”.
“As I say there is no nice way to do that and there may be different ways of etiquette to do it. But at the end of the day, the result is the same”.
“When I met Bruce and Marina, it was very cordial. I knew what was coming then as well. Not at the time. But you’re thankful for the period”.
“it is what it is. They are going to move on and there’s nothing you can do there. I’ve never been in that position before so it was a bit surreal at the time. But when you take the job you understand that that call could come”.
‘At Chelsea, it probably will come unless you go and win back-to-back titles and that was never going to happen.’
One of the major themes of Lampard’s second season in charge was the bloated nature of Chelsea’s squad following a £230million splurge in the transfer market after the ban on new signings was lifted.
The Blues wanted to push on from their impressive first season under Lampard and spent big on the likes of Kai Havertz and Timo Werner for £90m and £53m, and also snapped up Moroccan winger Hakim Ziyech (£38m), English defender Ben Chilwell (£50m) and Senegalese goalkeeper Edouard Mendy (£22m).
Meanwhile, veteran Brazilian defender Thiago Silva came in on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain.
Their arrivals left Chelsea’s first-team squad bursting at the seams and also stunted the development of some of the younger players who had been given opportunities in the previous campaign.
Lampard added: ‘We had a big squad and were leaving out players. We needed the squad to be, for me, less at that point.
‘Don’t get me wrong. They went on to win the Champions League last season so it sounds a bit naff.
‘It’s tough because we had three left-backs, and you can only play one generally, and five center-backs.
‘Fikayo (Tomori), who had been brilliant for me at Derby and very, very good for us in the first year at Chelsea, I could see and feel he was going to be a very good center back for Chelsea for years to come.
‘But he was in that development age where you will come out of a Chelsea team at 21 when there’s that sort of competition for places. But when you’ve got five it’s Fikayo or (Antonio) Rudiger, or (Andreas) Christensen, two of those are at home for a game.
‘It’s not nice and you can’t bulls*** players, saying “okay I’m leaving you at home but don’t worry you’ll be back next week” if that’s not the case. I wouldn’t have wanted that as a player and it’s really hard.
“The squad was big and it’s tough. As time goes on, and the new manager is there now, you can make changes and trim but that’s just how I felt at the time.’
One of the contentious issues Lampard faced during his first season in charge was dropping £72million goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga and playing Willy Caballero instead when the Spaniard struggled for form.
Lampard went one step further in the summer of 2020, bringing in Mendy from Rennes as his new No 1 and ensuring Kepa remained back-up at Stamford Bridge.
Mendy has proven to be an inspired signing, helping the club win the Champions League last season and preserving his status as the club’s No 1 under Tuchel.
Asked if the decision to drop Kepa brought pressure from the club’s owners after they spent a huge amount to land him, Lampard said: ‘No it didn’t. My communication with the upstairs was always good.
‘When you’re aware of a £70million goalkeeper that you take out of the team you know it’s not a simple decision”.
‘Kepa was having a tough time, there are no bones about it, in the first season and I think he’d say that himself”.
‘From the conversations we had, he was very open that it was a tough time for him and that position is different to every other position on the pitch because you’re getting it all the time and a lack of confidence is going to hit you harder than anything in that position”.
‘I tried to have open conversations with him and it got to the point where it felt like I just had to make a change”.
‘There was no feeling of pressure from above is what I’m trying to say but it becomes very high profile when you do it and there’s that price tag on a player”.
‘But he was having a tough time and for that reason, I’m not saying he had to come out of the team because that sounds a bit dramatic, but I had to make a decision”.
‘There were supportive of that (Lampard wanting to sign Mendy). I don’t think I’m being harsh on Kepa here because he is a talented goalkeeper but he had a tough year when I was there for whatever reason but I felt it was a position we could improve”.
‘Mendy was the result of that and he’s obviously been fantastic since he’s been at the club.’