There is something oddly satisfying about watching Frank Lampard's career develop. As a Chelsea fan, I want to track the path any legend takes after they finish playing. It's a weird feeling of pride, knowing that those you looked up to are doing just fine.
Since leaving Chelsea as a player, Frank Lampard's career path has been a bumpy road. He has given the Blues some memories as a player, but he's now a manager. He left Derby fans with nothing but sweet words of praise for him. He currently holds the managerial seat at Everton, and it'll be criminal for me not to watch the Toffees closely in hopes that the club legend will succeed.
However, following Everton's 5-0 defeat to Tottenham last night, the words of a particular Chelsea player began to sound in my head.
"Look, I'll be really sincere here on Lampard, Jorginho told ESPN Brasil. "I believe, given he was a legend at the club, he skipped some steps necessary for learning before moving to a big club.
"He came to a club where he is a legend, without having experience at other clubs. I think he came too soon, skipped a few steps ahead and wasn't ready for a job at this level, to be honest."
I think back to the era when Lampard was managing Chelsea. Fans were unanimously behind the ex England international, loathing for a long-term tenure. Towards the end of 2020, the fan base was left severely divided on his future at Stamford Bridge. Results were not going our way, and for a bunch of glory-hungry Chelsea fans, the sentiment wasn’t enough.
Since taking the job at Everton, Lampard has lost his last four out of five Premier League games. To be fair, Everton were not doing so well under former boss Rafa Benitez. It was always going to be a tough ask to get this squad back into winning form. Frank Lampard would need to pull something super out of the bag with relegation spots lingering.
He secured a top-four spot in his first season at Chelsea by integrating and prioritising the younger generation. Fikayo Tomori, Reece James, Mason Mount, Billy Gilmour, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Tammy Abraham benefitted as Cobham graduates. They were all hungry to make it for their childhood club, which I believe played a significant factor in Lampard's first season's success.
Jorginho's comments mentioned above were condemned by Chelsea fans worldwide. It felt as though he had committed blasphemy of the highest order against one of the greats ever to play the game. But what if he was right? What if he had skipped some necessary steps? Is Everton the necessary stepping he needs before he can be ready? Or is this Everton job just a massive task for any manager who would have taken over?
Lampard doesn't have the hungry youth that grew up in Cobham to help Everton's fight to stay in the Premier League. He doesn't have players competing at the top of the game in their positions, respectfully. But what he does have is a group of talented individuals that we have seen makes it work before. They haven't finished lower than 12th place in the Premier League since the 2003/04 season, and they are one of six teams yet to be relegated from the Premier League in the last 29 seasons. He knows what needs to be done and has identified the issue in his post-match press conference. He said,
"Some of those goals are just mistakes. We have to think of the bigger picture, 13 games to go. Teams around us are difficult. Before I came in, there were issues, and they are becoming clearer, but important the positivity remains, not stupid positivity."
It sounds like there are a few things to work on to keep Everton above water. I hope the ship doesn’t sink with Lampard at the wheel. The relationship between Chelsea fans and Everton’s manager is full of love and support. He knows he has the tactics, and he has the players. I am sure he will get the best out of them in no time and prove Jorginho wrong.
Or maybe it’s just the bias in me.
Make sure you have subscribed to CareFree Chelsea on YouTube! The Fan Brands team along with plenty of your football.london favourites will be producing daily Chelsea content for you to enjoy including match reactions, podcasts, football fun and interviews. You can follow Anita Abayomi from the CareFreeChelsea team on Twitter to keep up to date with her work. If you enjoyed reading this then give my other articles a read below.
