Paris (AFP)
Far from the podium and its standing, Chelsea on Monday recorded the failure of his young coach Frank Lampard (42) by landing the former glory of Stamford Bridge a month before the knockout stages of the Champions League.
The former charismatic midfielder of the "Blues" (2001-2014), appointed in July 2019 on the bench of his favorite club, did not survive the poor results which plagued the London club in the Championship, where he is moped in ninth place.
"A change is needed to give the club time to improve performance and results this season," Chelsea said in a statement released at midday.
Under contract until 2022, he could be replaced by another forty-something, the German Thomas Tuchel, according to information provided by several sports media.
The 47-year-old technician has been free from any commitment since his ouster from Paris SG at the end of December.
- "Very difficult decision" -
In London, Lampard's comeback therefore comes to an end after a year and a half: the disappointing results since the start of the season, despite the substantial resources put in by owner Roman Abramovich, were right for + Super Frankie +.
In the statement, the businessman referred to "a very difficult decision": "However, in the current circumstances we believe it is better to change the framework," he wrote.
Last season, the team of world champions N'Golo Kanté and Olivier Giroud, banned from recruiting, certainly grabbed the fourth place in the Premier League qualifying for the Champions League.
But that didn't mask the 33-point chasm that separated her from leaders Liverpool.
On the European scene, Chelsea also came out swept away from their double confrontation against Bayern Munich, the future winner who mastered it 3-0 then 4-1 at the stage of the knockout stages.
This is also the future major event that the next coach will have to face.
On February 23, the English must indeed negotiate a high-risk trip to the field of Atlético Madrid on behalf of the 8th first leg.
- Expensive recruitment -
In the meantime, he will be able to roam his management during fairly affordable Championship matches, with the exception of the shock against Tottenham scheduled for February 4.
The Premier League is precisely what cost Lampard his post, unable to keep pace with the top of the class.
Chelsea are eleven points behind leaders Manchester United and five behind Liverpool, the current owner of the fourth and last qualifying place in C1.
The start of the year 2021 did not contribute to the expected recovery, the defeats against Manchester City (3-1) and Leicester (2-0) having only been mitigated by a narrow 1-0 victory in mid-January against the evil. classified Fulham.
The situation is not desperate but the race for the podium seems slightly compromised for the club of the wealthy Abramovich who, again, took out the checkbook last summer to attract sizes likely to pull the Blues up.
The transfer of Kai Havertz from Bayer Leverkusen, estimated at more than 80 million euros according to the press, is also the highest of the year 2020, according to a recent report from Fifa which revealed the top-10 at the global level (without revealing the amounts disbursed).
In total, it is even more than 240 million euros that Chelsea will have released last summer to snatch, in addition to the young German attacking midfielder, the talented Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell, Hakim Ziyech or even Edouard Mendy, goalkeeper from Rennes.
The club that won the Europa League in 2019 has also strengthened with the experienced central defender Thiago Silva, who arrived free after the end of his departure from PSG.
Tuchel, who had campaigned in vain to extend the Brazilian, could soon find him in London.
© 2021 AFP