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Chelsea have finally decided to move on from Graham Potter. The English manager was brought in seven months ago and given a five-year contract, with the hope of building the Blues into a dominant side.
However, Potter wasn’t able to replicate his Brighton & Hove Albion success, as Chelsea not only struggled for an identity but also failed to win enough matches.
On April 6, Chelsea announced Frank Lampard as Potter’s replacement until the end of the season, to the surprise of many Blues fans.
However, the return of the former midfielder comes with its own advantages. He may not have lived up to expectations during his first spell, but he steadied the ship quite well when Chelsea were facing a transfer ban that prevented the club from signing any players.
A short-term fix in a chaotic season
Chelsea’s season is all but over. With just nine matches to the end of the Premier League campaign, the club finds itself languishing in 11th position and out of all domestic cup competitions.
The only competition the Blues are currently still in contention for is the UEFA Champions League, where they’ll be facing Real Madrid in the quarterfinals.
Considering that Grahan Potter’s tenure was ill-fated and sent the club backward, Lampard offers a temporary fix to the issues at hand. What the club currently needs is stability and to end the season in the strongest way possible.
Lampard was the one who promoted Reece James and Mason Mount to the first team and knows how to work with younger players and bring the best out of them. His appointment could, therefore, benefit Chelsea’s underperforming stars, many of whom fell out of favor under Potter. They all have a fresh start to make their mark.
Speaking after being appointed as the Blues' interim manager, Lampard said (as quoted by Chelseafc.com):
“In terms of targets, we want to win as many games as we can. That’s the simplest answer, it’s more complicated than that, but at the same time there are big games ahead of us and every game is hard. The Premier League is hard, the Champions League is hard, but we have to have a belief in the players we’ve got in this squad.”
He added:
“I’ve got a huge belief in them from the outside and I told them that. So it’s how can we take that in the right direction and of course we want to win games.”
Chelsea have more time to appoint a befitting permanent manager
Chelsea’s hierarchy may not openly admit it, but they made a big mistake by firing Thomas Tuchel without having any proper succession plan.
This forced them into bringing in Graham Potter despite not knowing which direction they wanted the team to head. It was a rushed decision and the club has since paid dearly for it – in both results and financial compensation.
Appointing Frank Lampard on a temporary basis, though, means the Blues have learned from their past mistake. At least, it affords them more time to plan the appointment of their next manager without making another rash decision.
Whether it’ll be Luis Enrique, Mauricio Pochettino, Julian Nagelsmann or someone else, Chelsea have bought themselves enough time to ensure they do their homework well and hire the right manager for whichever project the club’s hierarchy wants to build for the future.
