Frank Lampard remains a Chelsea legend but football is a business – Thomas Tuchel is set to replace him as boss and will be expected to get Kai Havertz and Timo Werner firing

Chelsea’s victory over Luton Town in the FA Cup was not enough to save Frank Lampard’s job as manager of his beloved club following his dismissal on Monday. As a result, the Blues will have to prepare without him for their midweek match against Wolves in the Premier League. 

In Sunday’s 3-1 win over Luton Town, Lampard fielded a strong team in an attempt to breed much-needed confidence into the front four of Chelsea that have struggled hugely in recent weeks.

The form of those players has coincided with the club’s overall slump. Not too long ago they were 17 matches unbeaten and looked like genuine contenders for the Premier League title.

Since the unbeaten run came to an end Chelsea have won just twice in their last eight League matches and dropped from first position to ninth – leading to the sacking of Lampard.

In all fairness to the Chelsea legend, on several occasions he reiterated that his side were far from the finished article – even when sitting pretty at the top of the league and seemingly unbeatable. Yet no one was willing to listen when the results suggested otherwise.

The pressure was also intensified by the £200million spent in the summer by Lampard in improving the squad that finished fourth in the league last season. 

Unlike his several illustrious predecessors the 42-year-old was allowed to bring in players, of which the majority were his first choice. Despite not having a pre-season to bed in the several new acquisitions, the football world expected the big-name signings to hit the ground running. 

The biggest strugglers this season have been two of the Blues’ most expensive summer signings, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz. Both Germany internationals were expected to add a cutting-edge in the final third to help Lampard’s side challenge on all fronts this season. 

While the season started promisingly for the duo, it soon turned for the worse. Havertz has failed to regain a spot in the team after contracting coronavirus, while Werner is currently goalless in his last 11 league matches – missing several simple chances in the process.

As Lampard was a key component in drawing the talent to the club, the pairs’ struggles drew questions of the Englishman’s capability to manage big egos and coach them into the system he believes is best suited for the club. All of which come with experience at the elite level which crucially Lampard lacked, having only been in management for two seasons.

Undeniably, his previous two seasons have been a major success. First he directed Derby County to the Championship play-off final in 2018-19 and then guided Chelsea into the top four last season, despite having a transfer ban and losing Eden Hazard who was by far the standout player in his squad.

Despite his predicament, the Englishman bled youth into his squad and gave the academy players a chance to shine on the big stage – something the fans had been crying out to see for years. He was the first manager, since Antonio Conte in 2016, to bring back a feel-good factor of supporting Chelsea. To the point that their rivals, for the first time ever, were somewhat happy to see them performing well due to having several English youngsters at the heart of the success. However, the Blues’ successful season went under the radar after losing in the final of the FA Cup to Arsenal.

Injuries to key players plagued Lampard’s tenure as manager. Had club captain Cesar Azpilicueta and talisman Christian Pulisic not pulled their hamstrings in that FA Cup final, then the Chelsea legend may well have won his first piece of silverware as a manager and his dismissal may not even have been in the question.

However, the football world is a ruthless place and none more so than at Chelsea Football Club. Owner Roman Abramovich is renowned for chopping and changing managers when results take a lapse. There is no loyalty shown to anyone from the Russian billionaire when it comes to results.

Jose Mourinho was fired from his second spell at the club in December 2015 despite being the most successful manager in the club’s history, something the Portuguese described as a ‘betrayal’. Antonio Conte left in July 2018 despite winning the Premier League in his first season and then following that up with an FA Cup in his second season. Even Roberto Di Matteo, the manager that delivered the Champions League in 2012, the trophy Abramovich had been craving since taking over in 2003, was out the door just eight months in the hotseat because of a downturn in form.

Therefore, it comes as no surprise that Lampard’s situation received no special treatment despite his legendary status as the club’s all-time top goalscorer with 211 goals in 13 years as a player.

Despite drawing critics, ruthless Russian Abramovich has been incredibly successful with his methods as the hiring and firing of 10 permanent managers has also yielded 16 major trophies during this time at the club.

Several managers have already been touted as potential replacements for Lampard, with Thomas Tuchel reportedly the one that has been chosen by Abramovich and the board.

The German is expected to be announced before Chelsea face Wolves but whether he will take charge of that match is still in question.

Tuchel was also sacked this season by Paris Saint-Germain after below-par results and uncharacteristic defeats in the league from the dominant side in French football. He won four major domestic trophies during his time in Paris, taking the league title on both occasions, while also winning the French Cup and French League Cup in separate seasons.

However, the 47-year-old failed to deliver what the Parisians had been craving in his two-and-a-half years there: the Champions League. PSG were eliminated by Manchester United in the last 16 in the German’s first season before being defeated by Bayern Munich in the final of the following campaign. To compound matters this was all while having the two most expensive players in the world, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, at his disposal.

Tuchel began his managerial career in 2009 taking over at the newly-promoted Mainz in the Bundesliga and succeeding from Jurgen Klopp. Tuchel spent five years at Mainz in which he was a huge success.

Despite limited funds and the lack of quality in the squad, he was able to guide Mainz to a very respectable 9th in their first season back in the German top-flight. 

The acquisitions of a young Lewis Holtby and Christian Fuchs the following season saw Tuchel incredibly guide Mainz into fifth and into a Europa league spot.

The German outfit struggled to cope with the demands of domestic and European football though and slipped to 13th position the following two seasons.

In Tuchel’s final season he drew attention from the likes of Schalke and Bayer Leverkusen but chose to remain at Mainz guiding them to 11th in the table. However, the German grew frustrated at the lack of funds at his disposal in order to progress the team and asked to be released from his contract prematurely, which the club eventually allowed in May 2014. 

In his next job, he replaced Klopp but this time as manager of Borussia Dortmund in 2015. His first season saw him revitalise the club taking them from the previous season’s seventh position to second behind Bayern Munich. The Bavarians also denied Tuchel his first major trophy, as they defeated Dortmund on penalties in the German Cup final.

After a summer spending spree, acquiring young talents such as Ousmane Dembele and Raphael Guerriero while also incorporating the now-Chelsea winger Pulisic into the squad, Tuchel was able to avenge the German Cup final defeat to win his only piece of silverware for the club by defeating Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 in the final of the following season.

Despite the victory the German was sacked just three days later after tensions grew again with the board who sold the likes of Mats Hummels, Ilkay Gundogan and Henrikh Mkhitaryan without replacing them with their first-choice targets, to the discontent of Tuchel.

The 47-year-old has proven experience in winning trophies when given the resources he demands. While it is unlikely that he will be given £200m to improve Chelsea’s squad, he will be expected to get the recent signings firing, which Lampard struggled to do – whether or not that was of his own doing.

Tuchel’s preference to play fast, high-pressing and counter-attacking football will make him suitable to the job he is set to take on due to the squad already at his disposal.

His German links will give Chelsea fans hope that he can get the misfiring Werner and Havertz into form, whilst also reuniting with Pulisic after four years apart.

The worry for the majority of Chelsea fans is whether the youth will now be given a chance, as with Lampard and Jody Morris at the club they had a very strong knowledge and link to the academy. The likes of Billy Gilmour, Faustino Anjorin and Ian Maatsen who were all given debuts by Lampard will have to wait anxiously on the plans of the German manager.

Elsewhere the more senior academy products such as Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham and Callum Hudson-Odoi are also in precarious positions. Any manager that steps into the role at Chelsea is expected to deliver trophies instantly, which usually means they tend to lean towards the bigger named players as a safety net.

Other managers such as Julian Nagelsmann were in the frame to replace Lampard however, it is understood that RB Leipzig were unwilling to let their young manager go before the end of the season. Dark-horse candidates in Brendan Rodgers and Ralph Hassenhutl are also tied up with their respective clubs, making the acquisition of Tuchel the most straightforward.

While the club and the fans may be happy to see a more experienced manager come in at the time of their poor form, they are under no illusion that Lampard remains a club legend and icon who they will forever be grateful for. 

Football is an odd business and who is to say that Lampard won’t have a second tenure at the club once he gains more experience in management, potentially even bringing back other club icons such as John Terry and Didier Drogba in the process. 

However, for now it is a fond farewell to the man they know as ‘Super Frank’. 

By Sajidur Rahman