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Chelsea legend Frank Lampard has given his backing to manager Jose Mourinho and believes his former club should keep hold of him, Sky Sports reported. Lampard also urged the players to start performing and that the club needed an immediate turnaround in form after losing six of their 11 Premier League games. The Blues are currently 15th in the EPL table.
The English champions hit another low on Saturday when they suffered a 3-1 defeat to Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool at Stamford Bridge despite taking an early lead through Ramirez in the opening minutes of the game. With this latest result, it adds even more pressure to club manager Mourinho, whose job is now reportedly on the line with club owner Roman Abramovich unhappy with results.
However, former Chelsea midfielder Lampard has urged the club’s hierarchy to stick with Mourinho and to think long term.
“When you look at it, it is crazy,” Lampard said, alluding to the number of managers Chelsea have had in the Roman Abramovich era.
“But Chelsea is a unique club. I think there's such a desire to win and a pressure to win. The owner, the board, they have taken the decisions to win, and to be fair to them, as Chelsea people we can't complain.”
Lampard also spoke about the club still having won a lot in spite of changing managers so often.
“We have had a lot of managers, and it might look messy, but we have got a lot of Premier League titles and a Champions League. What has been said recently is they want stability, so that's the interesting thing to see now.”
“Stability is the ideal. Manchester United were the ideal with Sir Alex Ferguson and the same with the great Liverpool managers of the past, it's the ideal. You want to see a manager stay, you want to see young players coming through, and that's the intriguing thing to see now, to see if Chelsea stick with him.
“He's got a four-year contract and he has got the best record as Chelsea manager. He is proven world class, and I think they should stick with him."
Chelsea are heading towards a ‘crossroads moment’: Neville
Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville believes the English champions are approaching a ‘crossroads moment’ that will test the Russian billionaire’s commitment. Neville has also stated that despite all the negatives surrounding the club at the moment, Chelsea could learn a thing or two from this campaign and finally hand over the well-deserved opportunity to the academy players.
“If we are now talking about stability, you talk about young players,” Neville explained. “Certainly the spending has cut down in recent years at the club.
“You're also talking about a change in philosophy at the football club – bringing through academy players and Mourinho managing for the longer term.
“This is now the killer moment at Chelsea for me, the crossroads moment. Is Abramovich walking in and thinking, 'I have to get rid of Mourinho because he might not finish fourth and he's giving bad interviews?’ or is he actually thinking, 'Relax, we can bring three or four academy players in, let's sacrifice this season, and let's stand behind the manager.’
“We can see if Abramovich is the same as he's always been and sacking managers after eight months, and whether Mourinho can stay at a club for longer than two or three years. It's a big coming together that is coming to a head now.”
