Super Frank Thread

[DDA 9,689]

5 minutes ago, bigbluewillie said:

I thought you wanted Stevie "fucking G

On reflection, I don't think Stevie G would be a good choice right now.. but keep an eye on him... I bet he ends up going to the scouse scumbags after Klopp and has them playing for titles.

[killer1257 3,282]

My guess is Alonso, jorgi, Emerson and Toni are unhappy with their situation. Toni is moaning almost every second week by giving interviews with German sky

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[Jase 43,479]

39 minutes ago, Azul said:

 

Yup, we're going down the "blind hope" route now...

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2021/01/04/chelsea-yet-hit-panic-button-frank-lampard/

Chelsea do not have a ready-made succession plan for the replacement of head coach Frank Lampard with the club yet to hit the panic button over their poor run of form.

Lampard is well aware that pressure on him is building as a result of four defeats in six games and that there are members of his large squad who are unhappy with the situation they find themselves in.

But Chelsea are mindful of the fact that Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal have suffered difficult periods in what has been an incredibly unpredictable Premier League season, and remain hopeful that Lampard can steer the club out of their slump.

Out-of-work managers such as Thomas Tuchel and Max Allegri are trying to position themselves at the front of the queue should Chelsea decide to make a change. But no emergency measures have yet been put in place, with the club operating as normal and Lampard sticking to his plan of giving his squad two days off following Sunday’s defeat to City in order to recharge bodies and minds.

Games against Morecambe, in the FA Cup on Sunday, and Fulham, in the Premier League a week on Friday, offer Lampard and his team an opportunity to start to rebuild confidence and momentum ahead of an important run of fixtures building up to the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Atletico Madrid on February 23.

A defeat in either of the games against Morecambe or Fulham would place Lampard in an incredibly difficult position, but that is a scenario he will be confident of avoiding.

Despite his trigger-happy reputation, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has been reluctant to sack managers mid-season over recent years, choosing to wait until the end of the campaign in the case of Antonio Conte, resisting the urge to sack Maurizio Sarri before allowing him to eventually take over at Juventus and holding off for several weeks before firing Jose Mourinho in his second spell.

Unlike Conte, Mourinho and, to a lesser extent, Sarri, Lampard has not compounded disappointing results by taking pot-shots at the Chelsea board or refusing to fulfil his club duties away from the first team.

Twice previously, Abramovich turned to Guus Hiddink to take temporary charge, but the Dutchman is now 74-years-old and there are no obvious alternatives outside Chelsea to replace Lampard in a short-term capacity if the club felt forced to make a change.

The January transfer window gives Chelsea the opportunity to try to streamline Lampard’s squad and help reduce the risk of any widespread disharmony developing among the players.
Lampard has four senior left-backs, including Baba Rahman, five central defenders, and three senior goalkeepers in his squad. Marcos Alonso, who has been linked with Atletico Madrid and frozen out since the draw at West Bromwich Albion, could be allowed to leave, while Fikayo Tomori is expected to leave on loan and offers would be considered for Kepa Arrizabalaga.

The long-term futures of Antonio Rüdiger and Jorginho remain in doubt, but Chelsea may not receive offers good enough to allow either of the players to leave in the current transfer window.

Chelsea backed Lampard with an enormous £220 million summer spend, but, like a lot of top clubs, found it difficult to offload their unwanted stars during the coronavirus pandemic when many budgets were severely cut.

That left Lampard with an inflated squad to work with, which has brought its challenges and meant that some players have been left unhappy with their relative lack of playing time.

While the club work on potential outgoings, Lampard’s immediate challenge is to try to find a balance within his team and help two of the club’s most expensive summer signings, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz, rediscover their best form.

Werner has now gone 12 games without scoring for Chelsea since returning from international duty with Germany, when he was part of the team that was humiliated by a 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Spain.

Just as concerning as his lack of goals has been Werner’s work-rate and general contribution, which has tailed off alarmingly in recent weeks. Lampard stuck by the 24-year-old for the visit of City, but was not rewarded for his faith.

Midfielder Havertz has struggled since contracting and recovering from coronavirus, although the German did set up Callum Hudson-Odoi’s consolation goal in the 3-1 defeat to City.

Hudson-Odoi’s impact on Sunday, following a promising performance against Aston Villa, gives Lampard another factor to consider while Billy Gilmour is also very much in the Chelsea manager’s thoughts as he attempts to find the right mix in midfield.

Gilmour is understood to have impressed in training and a start against Morecambe would give the Scotsman the chance to stake a claim to start against Fulham in the Premier League with Lampard not afraid to turn to his young players.

[Jase 43,479]

1 hour ago, Tomo said:

I remember at Palace's first season back in the PL Ian Holloway held his hands up and said the job was too much for him, maybe Frank should consider doing the same? 

I could take the average results if the football was still good or vice versa but can never accept not both. For the first time since Conte's last few months watching games has felt like a chore and this has come at the worst possible time with lockdown imminent.

What makes you think Lampard will come out and say that knowing his ego?

Since the club are going down the "blind hope" route with him, one can only hope he realizes his mistakes and fixes them ASAP. We face Fulham (a), Leicester (a), Wolves (h) and Burnley (h) this month - and before going to Spurs - and if we don't pick up at least 4 points from the next 2 games or at least 10 out of 12, then I think he would be gone. 

[Jase 43,479]

Goal, Telegraph and ESPN all running the same story today - Lampard will be given a bit more time (also note the 4th last paragraph below)...

https://www.espn.com/soccer/chelsea/story/4279843/chelsea-prepared-to-be-patient-with-lampard-despite-poor-results-sources

Chelsea are prepared to give Frank Lampard time to turn around the club's poor form despite mounting speculation over his future, sources have told ESPN.

The Blues were comprehensively beaten 3-1 at Manchester City on Sunday to slip to their fourth defeat in six Premier League matches, a run which has seen them drop to eighth in the table.

Lampard is under increasingly pressure after overseeing a summer spending spree in excess of £220 million featuring six signings, several of whom have underperformed in their first few months in west London.

However, there is recognition of Lampard's achievements last season, most significantly guiding the club into the Champions League despite starting the campaign with a FIFA transfer ban preventing the club making any new signings.

The 42-year-old's legendary status as a player -- he is Chelsea's all-time leading goalscorer with 211 goals from 648 appearances in a 13-year career which featured 11 major honours -- is also a factor and sources have told ESPN no single candidate has been identified to replace him.

The Blues are reluctant to part company with Lampard but there is alarm at recent results with a top-four spot a minimum expectation after such a huge financial investment, especially amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Lampard has not been given an ultimatum or a timeframe in which to improve the club's fortunes but an FA Cup third round tie against League Two side Morecambe -- assuming it goes ahead with COVID cases rising across the country -- and a Premier League game against relegation-threatened Fulham offer a presentable chance to get back to winning ways.

A major shock in either of those matches would leave Lampard in major trouble, particularly coming after City outclassed Chelsea despite missing a raft of first-team players due to positive COVID-19 tests.

Sources have told ESPN that several Chelsea players have expressed their frustrations at Lampard's tactical approach and there is a view among some that he is yet to establish his best team.

Timo Werner, a £47m acquisition from Red Bull Leipzig, started the season brightly but has now gone 12 matches without scoring. While Kai Havertz, who signed for an initial £62m from Bayer Leverkusen, has struggled under the weight of that price tag.

Lampard will be expected to get more out of his big-money signings, especially with more experienced managers currently out of work.

Thomas Tuchel, sacked by Paris Saint-Germain on Christmas Eve, and Max Allegri, who left Juventus in the summer of 2019, are two obvious candidates while Brendan Rodgers is also thought to have his admirers having impressed at Leicester. Rodgers also joined Chelsea as an academy coach in 2004 and was later reserve team manager before leaving for his first managerial post at Watford in 2008.

[Jase 43,479]

 

[MoroccanBlue 5,291]

Interesting. 

Simon Johnson stated that his sources informed him they were already looking at alternatives and that he wouldn't risk writing the article in the Athletic given his credibility is on the line should it be untrue. 

[NikkiCFC 7,925]

54 minutes ago, killer1257 said:

My guess is Alonso, jorgi, Emerson and Toni are unhappy with their situation. Toni is moaning almost every second week by giving interviews with German sky

For English media he said he is happy. 

I think this is about tactics and not playing time. I imagine Havertz, Werner are frustrated because they play out of position. 

[Jase 43,479]

13 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

For English media he said he is happy. 

I think this is about tactics and not playing time. I imagine Havertz, Werner are frustrated because they play out of position. 

Rudiger? Why would Rudiger even be complaining about the tactics when he's not even playing much? 

[NikkiCFC 7,925]

7 minutes ago, Jason said:

Rudiger? Why would Rudiger even be complaining about the tactics when he's not even playing much? 

I said that I don't think this is about him or other players Killer mentioned. 

[Jase 43,479]

1 minute ago, NikkiCFC said:

I said that I don't think this is about him or other players Killer mentioned. 

I think it could be him. The Athletic also reported the same thing about players on the fringes out of the squad being unhappy. 

[Tomo 21,733]

1 hour ago, Blue Armour said:

Knowing Frank, you know that's not going to happen.

And full agree with your sentiment. The football has become awful, and has shades of Contes second season and the worst of Sarriball.

Even with the worst form of Sarri I wasn't THAT downbeat as we were clearly trying to build something and we could look at little things (like how comfortable playing out under pressure we were) and see building blocks to potentially something great, there's none of that now, feels like a black hole to nowhere.

Hope is a big thing in this game.

[ZaynChelsea 423]

Man, looking at the squad one can only imagine what a coach like Hasenhüttl would get out of the players.

Instead, we‘re stuck with a fraud.

[OneMoSalah 8,766]

15 minutes ago, ZaynChelsea said:

Man, looking at the squad one can only imagine what a coach like Hasenhüttl would get out of the players.

Instead, we‘re stuck with a fraud.

It would be interesting but still think he would be lower down the list. Or if he was our first choice I would be a bit concerned because I think Allegri, Tuchel, among other names should be the sort of level we go for first. He is a 442 man as he is at Southampton and at Leipzig. Its clearly his preferred system and has clearly helped him turn it around with Southampton. They have a lot of balls, the way Southampton play hunting the ball down and with a high line is admirable but you look at the midfielders and we have and the attackers we have, guys like Havertz, Ziyech, Pulisic. These guys don’t want to be chasing balls over the top and in the channels. They want to come inside play one and two touch combinations with each other, moving off the ball into spaces in and around the box. Southamptons actual play in the middle of the pitch isn’t that impressive. They are good for recovering second balls and getting stuck in but offensively they are heavily reliant on the balls in the channels and over the top. They are a good side for set pieces mind you and while thats something we have tightened up and improved upon ourselves, they have some good worked routines. The work rate would be night and day though but again I dont know how he would cope taking that style to Chelsea, bigger names, more demands, more pressure to win, I know Southampton are higher than us at present but theres not the same expectation. 

[Fulham Broadway 16,790]

Could be after Fulham, or next season but at the end of the day it doesnt matter what we think its up to Abramovich when he drops the trap door

[ZaynChelsea 423]

Meanwhile Southampton playing amazing football against Liverpool. And then look at their squad. Embarrassing for Lampard

[Jase 43,479]

This is basically us right now...

[Jase 43,479]

9th in the table.

3 points behind Spurs in 4th and have played a game more.

Also 3 points behind City in 5th and have played 2 games more.

4 minutes ago, Jason said:

This is basically us right now...