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Chelsea fires manager Frank Lampard, Tuchel reportedly the favorite to replace him

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A slump that saw Chelsea go from title contenders to ninth place in the English Premier League after spending big in the summer transfer window has cost club legend Frank Lampard his job.

Chelsea fired Lampard on Monday, one day after the club posted a 3-1 win against Luton Town in FA Cup ation. The Blues had struggled for consistency in Lampard’s second season, enduring a slump that began in December and led to a slide down to ninth place with 29 points earned through 19 matches.

“We are grateful to Frank for what he has achieved in his time as Head Coach of the Club,” a club statement read. “However, recent results and performances have not met the Club’s expectations, leaving the Club mid-table without any clear path to sustained improvement.

“There can never be a good time to part ways with a club legend such as Frank, but after lengthy deliberation and consideration it was decided a change is needed now to give the Club time to improve performances and results this season.”

Lampard took over as manager heading into the 2019-20 season and helped Chelsea clinch a top-four finish in the Premier League. The former star midfielder also helped Chelsea reach the FA Cup Final before losing to London rivals Arsenal in the Final last August.

Chelsea advanced to the Round of 16 of the current UEFA Champions League, but hit a slump in December after a 14-match unbeaten run early in the campaign. The Blues have conceded the second-most goals in the current top 10, and managed just two wins in Chelsea’s past eight Premier League matches.

With Lampard gone, former Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain boss Thomas Tuchel is being reported as a potential replacement. Tuchel was recently fired by Paris Saint-Germain in December after a disappointing showing to start the season, a move that came despite Tuchel having led PSG to the UEFA Champions League final in August, which PSG lost to Bayern Munich.

Chelsea resumes league play against Wolves and Burnley over the next week, with a difficult February looming that will include matches against Tottenham and Manchester United, as well as a Round of 16 matchup against La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid.

Comments

  1. Chelsea is not a balanced team. Even youth coaches/managers know you can’t have all your best players be attacking players. Why did they spend so much money on positions that were not the most needed? Yes, Silva has helped, and so has the new GK, but the defense is still pretty average. Most of all, the midfield has been letting them down. Who is going to spring the attack for all those shiny forwards? A more thoughtful approach to building the roster would probably help more than a new manager.

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  2. He signed 2 players (werner and zyeich) that play the same position as pulisic…all 3 of them play the same way…sounds like he was hoping to replace pulisic but pulisic is the most productive of the 3….not sad to see him go…hopefullu tuchel is hired…pulisic was at dortmond when tuchel was…

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  3. Only good decision he made was replacing Kepa.I hope the next coach isnt prejudice against American players and play Pulisic.

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    • Hard to say that Lampard was prejudiced against Americans when Pulisic has started pretty much every game since he came back from his latest injury, even though he really hasn’t scored or set up much. Lampard favored Pulisic over Hudson-Oddoi, Havertz and lately, even Werner. There’s no guarantee that Pulisic is going to be treated better by Tuchel.

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    • Totally agree he was prejudiced against Pulisic, even though he denies it. Credit to Pulisic for fighting on and making himself indispensable.

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    • Pu8lisic made his Bundesliga debut at Dortmund while Tuchel was the manager. As long as Pulisic plays well, he’ll have no trouble getting onto the field.

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  4. I learned all I needed to know about Chelsea’s culture when I found out that the players didn’t talk to Pulisic his first day when he got on the bus. It seems so cut-throat and the players don’t look happy. How could you be when you know they’re constantly shopping for players to replace you? I also didn’t have the best feeling about Lampard years ago when he came to MLS and basically just disrespected it by delaying forever and just playing a few games. And then his childish words for Klopp on the sidelines earlier this year… Usually I’m not a big culture/leadership guy but in this case I think you can’t ignore it. Tuchel seems like a positive guy.

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  5. Seems a little rash to me. Isn’t Arsenal having the same growing pains with their recently retired player turned manager – Arteta? And Juventus with Pirlo? I’ve never followed Chelsea much other than really not liking the club but thinking about it…the club is a literal couching carousel isn’t?

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    • Honestly 2 months of sacrificing your best attacking player (Pulisic) by playing him out of position (decreasing his confidence) so that your pet (Mount) can be in the squad every day alone should have been enough to justify sacking even when they were getting good results (though looking shaky while doing it). The football has been dreadful, his tactics and squad selection questionable at best, and now there are reports that he had lost the locker room. He spent over 200 Mil in the off season but still couldn’t fix them at the back. All of that and a fickle owner means Frank had to go. Good riddance as far as I’m concerned.

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      • Like I said I don’t follow Chelsea too closely so critiquing tactics isn’t for me. But it does seem Pulisic has been basically made of glass so I guess any coach would be wary of throwing him out there too many consecutive 90s. I do get when a coach loses the lockerroom. If that’s the case then it seems more understandable. But when players are at a club where the coach gets the boot whenever they are not feeling it…not a good way to run a club.

      • I think you’re wearing rose colored glasses here. Calling Pulisic Chelsea’s best attacking player is a bit of a stretch; maybe he was in some games, but after a torrid Project Restart Pulisic has been mediocre over the last few months. Not great, not terrible. If anyone has the right to gripe about Lampard’s lineups, it’s Giroud, who does nothing but score goals but still struggles for consistent playing time.

    • Ownership gave Frank enough rope and he hung himself.
      Chelsea has spent nearly 200M in on new players for Lampard, and yet they’re still struggling in both attack and defense. There seems no continuity within the team and they appear to be directionless.
      Whoever they get as a coach they’ll need to clean-up the roster a bit and restructure the squad to make if more balanced if they hope to reverse their performances.
      Tuchel is a good option for rebuilding…but he doesn’t have a magic wand that will fix all their problems. He’ll need some time to restructure and replace some players/positions.

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