With club owner Roman Abramovich notorious for his lack of tolerance for managers slow in delivering the goods, Chelsea boss Frank Lampard is staring at the exit door at Stamford Bridge after a heavy defeat to Manchester City.
The Blues were crushed 3-1 by Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden and Kevin de Bruyne all scored in a first-half trouncing in west London and the score could have been much worse. This has left Lampard fighting for his job although it is a situation he is not unfamiliar with, but as a player.
During his time at Stamford Bridge in his playing days, he saw a number of managers being shown the exit. However, under Mourinho, the Blues had a knack for extricating themselves out of sticky situations and ending up winning trophies.
The Blues legend has told his stuttering stars to emulate the spirit Chelsea had under former coach Jose Mourinho during this rough patch they’re currently undergoing.
He said: “I’ve sat there and had these days and then lifted a trophy at the end of the year.
“We bounced back then because we had a spirit in the dressing room and any player in football will have periods like that.
“Some other defeats for other teams have been painful. We have to take it on the chin, this is football.”
Chelsea had gone on a 17-match unbeaten rampage which stirred up talk of a potential title challenge in the Premier League. However, since then it has been a totally different story with one league win in six, including defeats to Everton, Wolves and Arsenal.
Lampard added:
“For 10 minutes we were good, then they started to play and we concede two poor goals back to back in the game.
“It knocked us and we didn’t react well, we allowed the space for Kevin de Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan for the first goal.
“Everyone a month ago saying we could win the league.
“I was pretty sure in terms of a rebuild, the ban and the youth that there were going to be periods of pain we were going to go through.
“When a team gives you a problem it has to be dealt with but we didn’t.”