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Today’s news that Frank Lampard has been fired as manager of Chelsea might’ve come as a shock to some, while for others, it was entirely expected. After all, the Blues haven’t been in the best form recently.
Despite Frank Lampard’s reign at Chelsea coming to a sad ending, there were still plenty of highlights during his 18-month reign at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea fans will probably never forget that Lampard was the first manager to really make use of their highly-acclaimed academy graduates. And despite being under a transfer embargo, his first season in the job certainly wasn’t a disaster.
With all of this in mind, here are five highlights of Frank Lampard’s tenure as Chelsea boss.
#1 Chelsea’s kids come good against Wolves
One of Frank Lampard’s hallmarks during his period as Chelsea boss was his willingness to use their academy talent in the Blues’ first team. While that tendency lessened during the current season due to the arrival of expensive signings such as Kai Havertz and Timo Werner, that wasn’t the case during the 2019-20 campaign.
Last season saw the likes of Tammy Abraham, Reece James, and Mason Mount all establish themselves as first-team staples. And one game in particular summed up their impact.
That match took place on September 14th, 2019, and saw Chelsea travel to Wolves for what sounded like a tricky game on paper. Nuno Espirito Santo’s team were looking to push into European contention and had gotten used to bloodying the nose of bigger sides.
However, on this afternoon, they were simply blown away by Lampard’s young, vibrant team, who essentially sealed the game in the first half.
The scoring was opened on 31 minutes by young defender Fikayo Tomori, who crashed his first Chelsea goal home from long range, in what was a contender for the goal of the season.
And before the half-time whistle blew, Chelsea found themselves three goals ahead, with striker Abraham hitting a brace.
10 minutes into the second half, Abraham had his first Chelsea hat-trick. And while Wolves hit back with two late goals, there was still time for a third Chelsea goal, courtesy of another academy graduate in Mount.
This massive 2-5 victory was not just an impressive one given the opposition, but it was also a tremendous advert for the talent of Chelsea’s kids – who were finally given a chance by Lampard.
#2 The 4-4 Champions League thriller against Ajax
When Chelsea slumped to a home defeat at the hands of Valencia in their first game of the 2019-20 Champions League, many observers felt that as a rookie boss, Lampard would probably be found wanting on Europe’s biggest stage.
However, a win over Lille steadied Chelsea’s Champions League ship. And a stunning away win over the 2018-19 semi-finalists Ajax gave them real hope of qualifying for the knockout stages.
It was the home game against Ajax that really got the blood of the fans pumping, though, despite Chelsea only coming away with a draw.
The game turned out to be one of the most thrilling European nights in Stamford Bridge's history.
Ajax took the lead in just the second minute, with striker Tammy Abraham of all people managing to score an own goal. However, just three minutes later, the Blues were level, with Jorginho netting from the penalty spot after a foul on Christian Pulisic.
From there, though, Ajax began to open up Lampard’s side. Their incisive, slick approach simply cut the Blues’ defense to shreds time after time. And by the 55th minute, the Dutch side were 1-4 ahead, with Donny van de Beek’s goal seemingly extinguishing any Chelsea hopes.
But evidently, Lampard’s Chelsea were a tougher nut to crack than anyone expected. First, Cesar Azpilicueta pulled a goal back in the 63rd minute, tapping in from the closest possible range following an attempt on goal from Abraham.
And suddenly, Chelsea began to fight back, sending wave after wave of attacks against the Ajax defense.
It looked like a lost cause – until Ajax players Daley Blind and Joel Veltman both found themselves sent off following their second bookable offenses, Veltman’s being a handball that gave Chelsea another penalty.
Jorginho slotted home from the spot, and just three minutes later, Chelsea had their equalizer when Reece James smashed a rebound home following Kurt Zouma hitting the bar.
Incredibly, the Blues then thought they’d scored a winner when Azpilicueta found the net again – only for VAR to chalk to goal off due to a handball from Abraham.
The game ended 4-4, but despite Chelsea’s failure to win, this was still a dramatic game that showed – at least for a brief time – that Lampard, the manager, could compete on the European stage.
#3 Lampard masterminds two wins over Mourinho
When Jose Mourinho worked as a pundit for Chelsea’s opening day loss to Manchester United in the 2019-20 campaign, few people could’ve expected that the Portuguese would come face-to-face with his former star player Lampard just a few months later.
However, that’s exactly what happened, as Mourinho was appointed as the new boss of Spurs in November 2019. But if people were expecting the old master to get the better of his younger counterpart, they were sorely mistaken.
The first game saw Lampard surprisingly use a 3-4-2-1 system, catching Mourinho off guard and allowing the Blues to largely run riot. Tottenham simply looked lethargic against Lampard’s more comfortable and confident side and fell to a 2-0 loss, with Willian responsible for both goals.
And when the two sides met again in February 2020, things didn’t change. Mourinho tweaked his depleted Spurs side, deploying them in a 5-4-1 system to attempt to counter Lampard’s tactics. But again, the younger man got, the better of him, this time by bringing Marcos Alonso and Olivier Giroud in from the cold.
The two recalled veterans tormented Tottenham’s defense from the off and scored both of Chelsea’s goals in a highly impressive 2-1 win.
Before both games, Tottenham had been chasing Chelsea in an attempt to overhaul them for a top-four position. After both, it was Lampard’s men in the driving seat. These two wins were a rare indicator that perhaps Lampard wasn’t as out of his depth as his detractors made out.
#3 Pulling off a last-gasp win over Arsenal
By the end of 2019, Lampard’s Chelsea side had picked up several excellent wins. But aside from their 2-0 win over Tottenham, they hadn’t taken the scalp of one of the Premier League’s big boys.
Lampard’s side had fallen to defeat at the hands of Manchester United, Liverpool, and Manchester City. But on December 29th, they had a shot at defeating another member of the so-called ‘Big Six’ when they faced off with Arsenal at the Emirates.
Early on, however, it didn’t look good for the Blues. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened the scoring for Arsenal after just 13 minutes, and according to Lampard in his post-game interview, Chelsea looked slow, lethargic, and nervous.
When the second half came around, though, a tactical switch from Lampard – sending midfielder Jorginho on to replace Emerson and moving to a 4-3-3 system – turned things around entirely.
The Blues began to get back into the game, slowly dominating their London rivals. And with just seven minutes to go, Lampard’s men found an equalizer. An error from Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno caused the goal, but it was the substitute Jorginho who found the back of the net.
And better was to come for Chelsea. After Arsenal attempted an attack, the Blues caught them on the break – and after some good work from Willian, Tammy Abraham was able to slot the ball past Leno to win the game.
The victory was Lampard’s second in a London derby and gave him one of his best days as Chelsea boss.
#5 Achieving Champions League qualification in his first season in charge
When Lampard was handed the Chelsea manager’s job in the summer of 2019, what was his remit for the 2019-20 season? It’s honestly hard to say, especially as the Blues were under a transfer embargo at the time.
Most observers felt that a top-four finish – Champions League qualification – was beyond Lampard and his young side, which had lost its best player, Eden Hazard, and was filled with inexperienced academy graduates.
However, despite suffering several losses throughout the campaign – 12 in total – Lampard’s side went into the UK’s COVID-19 lockdown in March in 4th place in the table, with nine games remaining.
And when the action recommenced, the Blues were able to defeat five of their first eight opponents. This meant that they would go into their final match with Wolves, knowing that a victory would send them into the Champions League for the second consecutive year.
And when the crunch game came, Lampard’s young side came through. Goals from academy graduate Mason Mount and veteran Olivier Giroud handed Chelsea a 2-0 win. The Blues took their seat at Europe’s top table in the 2020-21 season.
Given that bosses like Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte had failed to do this – despite spending millions in the transfer market – this was a huge achievement for Lampard.
Not only had the rookie boss pulled off Champions League qualification in his first season in charge, but he’d done it without spending a penny, too.
