Ian Wright is worried that his friend Frank Lampard may be on a hiding to nothing at Chelsea after taking the manager’s job until the end of the season.
Lampard was brought in as caretaker manager on Thursday as a replacement for the sacked Graham Potter. His second spell in charge of the club did not get off to a dream start, with Chelsea beaten 1-0 by Wolves in the Premier League on Saturday.
The Blues are 11th in the Premier League, 17 points adrift of the top four, despite a huge expenditure on players since Todd Boehly’s consortium took over in May. Lampard is only seen as a stop-gap appointment, with the club considering the likes of Luis Enrique and Julian Nagelsmann as a permanent boss in the summer.
Wright says he is “close” with Lampard and has been in regular contact with him recently. The Arsenal legend is concerned that not much good can come out of the job for Lampard, who has eight Premier League games left, as well as a two-legged Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid.
“I’m afraid, I just want him to do so well. I’m afraid because it’s not gone too well for him up to this point,” he said on the Wrighty’s House podcast. “Derby was okay, the Chelsea job was too good to turn down, then Everton and everything that’s happening there.
“I’m just worried for a friend. Does this move help him? How does it help him? Is he doing it as a favour? Does he want to get back into management right now?
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“It’s turmoil at Chelsea at the moment. I’m very confused and worried about the whole thing. What’s in it for Frank? Has he got enough time to organise these players and has he learnt enough from his last experience at Chelsea and Everton to feel he can get this team in place in the limited time he has?”
Lampard only had two days with his squad before the trip to Wolves and that clearly wasn’t enough to make an impact, with the Blues devoid of creativity at Molineux. They rarely threatened the home team’s goal, with starters Kai Havertz, Joao Felix and Raheem Sterling, and substitutes Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Christian Pulisic and Mykhaylo Mudryk ineffectual.
Despite his poor showing on Saturday, Wright believes that Aubameyang could be the answer for Lampard. The Gabon international barely featured under Potter, but could fulfil the role of central striker Chelsea are desperate for.
“The last time Lampard was at Chelsea, I remember him liking Aubameyang,” Wright said. “He will score the chances Chelsea are creating right now. It feels like it’s set up for Aubameyang to come in. Chelsea could easily still start beating teams.”
Chelsea, who have scored just 29 goals in 30 league games this season, travel to Spain to take on defending champions Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter final on Wednesday. Aubameyang is not eligible for that match, having been left out of the Chelsea squad for the competition.
