Frank Lampard is in the strange position of taking over at Chelsea, even temporarily, with several members of the squad having already outlasted the former midfielder. The Blues legend was sacked just over 24 months ago after a run of results that saw his side slip from top of the league to midtable.
Under the Englishman, Chelsea signed current players Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz, Thiago Silva, Edouard Mendy and Christian Pulisic made his debut. All of that group will be under his spell once more when he is announced as the new interim boss at SW6.
It is a remarkable turn of events for both manager and club after Graham Potter was sacked on Sunday night following the 2-0 loss to Aston Villa. Bruno Saltor, initially appointed as caretaker boss, was in the home dugout for the draw with Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday. That looks set to be his only game in charge though with Lampard on the verge of a shock return to the dugout.
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One player that may have mixed feelings about Lampard returning is Pulisic. The American played his first game for the club under Lampard's management after being signed during Maurizio Sarri's time at Chelsea in winter 2019. Although his best period of form in a Chelsea shirt came under Lampard, with his flurry of goals and assists during lockdown, Pulisic was also cut out from the squad by the time Lampard was sacked less than one year later.
He has also been a player that continued his polarising play under Lampard. With a hat-trick against Burnley marking his arrival in the Premier League, Pulisic only scored two times before the lockdown period. He also came in for plenty of attention, being the most high-profile star from his country at the time, with manager Jesse Marsch criticising Lampard for his lack of gametime afforded to the winger.
"I did read the comments and I was surprised that he had managed to read my mind as well as he thought he did," Lampard replied to the then RB Salzburg coach. "He has recounted the conversation wrong and I have to put it correct.
"It was a game against Salzburg in pre-season and Christian scored two goals. Jesse came up to me and we spoke about Christian. He said he was a talented player and I agreed with him and we spoke about how exciting his development will be.
"That was the conversation. Jesse managed to put it across slightly differently. I played in America for 18 months and I would never underestimate the desire that American players have to learn and to improve. Christian has that desire and talent also so it was never in doubt for me.
"I understand the rigours of the Premier League. It's clearly the toughest league in the world and it's not just Christian who would have felt that, but some of the greatest players in history have. What Christian did was find his feet very quickly and have a breakthrough season with lots of goals and assists. His performances were massively impressive and he will get better and better. I never doubted that.
"I'm not jumping on Jesse but as a manager I never doubted Christian and it's important for me to put that straight." Lampard's comments were made after the young American coach, before his time at Leeds, said: "The perception in Europe, mostly, is that the American player is willing to run, willing to fight, has good mentality, but technically they're not very gifted and tactically they're not very aware and their experiences aren't very big."
He told Extratime Radio: "But we're seeing that change. We're seeing more and more of these players develop themselves. Even Frank Lampard, when I spoke to him in preseason a year ago now, I was talking to him about having Christian Pulisic, and he was kind of like: 'Yeah, he's got a lot to learn, so we'll see how he does.' I said to him: 'Listen, he was at Dortmund, and they had a high level of tactical thinking, of playing, and he was very successful.'
"He was considered one of the best young players in Germany, and that's in a group of players with Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, Joshua Kimmich, these kinds of players. He was in a group with those players, and it's not just because he was talented but it was because he understood the tactics and understood how to fit in the game and he was developing a real astute way of how to play.
"I could see right away that Frank Lampard's idea of Christian Pulisic was shaped a lot by the fact that he was American and not that his football education came a lot from what has happened in Germany. Since then, I think Lampard has learned that Pulisic is a lot better than he gave him credit for.
"Christian had to fight for that, which is the American quality, but he's a damn good player. Same with Gio Reyna, same with Tyler Adams, same with Weston McKennie."
Since then Pulisic has been in and out of the thinking of Lampard, Thomas Tuchel and Potter. It is under Lampard that his best output came though, getting 15 goals and assists in 25 games in 2019/20. Despite gradually falling out of favour as new signings joined the squad 2020/21, Lampard always spoke well about the forward.
"It is hard to answer [on when he will be back]. We tried to get him out this week and step it up a little bit but we had to pull out of that. So the break might have come at a good time because it buys us a couple of weeks," he said when waiting for the USMNT star to come back to fitness.
"I won't have an answer till we're back training. Yes, [we miss him] because he's a quality player and was having a really good patch pre-Christmas. But others have to stand up, too. But, of course, we'll be happy to have him back."
Lampard has also spoken about Pulisic since leaving Chelsea too. As Everton manager he said: “I think Christian can still be a big player for Chelsea, of course, a really big player, but that’s absolutely a question for the club and him."
He told Pro Soccer Wire: “Christian needs to play games. I know what he’s like, he wants to play all the time. He’s had some injuries, I think it’s sometimes held him back at different times in his career. So I just hope we get the right solution. I have a lot of respect for Chelsea. It’s a huge club in my life and career. So I hope we get the best solution for both.
“I’ve got a lot of time for Christian. I think I worked well with him and just tried to develop him and had a really good relationship with him. He’s got incredible talent. He’s a great boy. I found him really pleasurable to work with as well as a talent.
“He’s really fast and [has a quick] change in direction and it’s balanced. He’s still a young player. It feels like he’s been around a long time because he broke through so young. So there’s still a lot to come from Christian, but those basics of the speed and balance is not [something] everyday players have. He’s special like that.”
With contract uncertainty around Pulisic as well as his future being up in the air, Lampard's return may well offer him the chance needed to get back to his best form.
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