After Graham Potter had been sacked by Chelsea after a 2-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa, many Chelsea fans were rejoiced by the news. They also were mostly pleased with the appointment of Frank Lampard as an interim manager, which they would soon regret.
In my article about the appointment of Lampard as an interim, it was a positive and optimistic outlook on the situation. Success in the Champions League and qualification for next year's tournament were almost impossible however, I believed that he could bring a positive environment to the club and develop our young and talented players. As such, I saw reason to be excited for Lampard's second spell as Chelsea manager.
Whilst results have been absolutely abysmal under Lampard, winning one in nine, the issue that myself and most Chelsea fans have had with Lampard has been his extremely questionable starting line ups. This Chelsea squad, with its clear flaws, has a vast amount of young talent to pick from and develop. However, Lampard would continue to leave out players such as Chukwuemeka and Hall until forced into using them because of injuries.
The treatment of Chukwuemeka this season as a whole has been dreadful. Signed from Aston Villa in the summer for £15.6 million, it was a shock that he did not go on loan for a season to gain much needed experience. Instead he would pick up Premier League minutes under Tuchel and then play very sporadically under Potter. In January, the club refused to allow him to leave on loan despite many offers. This would have been understandable had the club then given him suitable minutes on the pitch but after January, he was almost completely dropped out of the setup barely making it into matchday squads. Under Lampard he has only featured in the matchday squad twice, making an actual appearance on the pitch once, as a substitute for ten minutes in a dead rubber against Manchester City.
Because of the use of Chukwuemeka and other young players under Lampard, his spell as interim is disappointing because it seems that there has been a lack of effort to develop a team for next season. For example, In Chelsea's most recent match, a defeat against a weaker Man city team, Lampard put out of starting XI that included up to seven players whose future at Chelsea was very much uncertain. Fans understandably were frustrated by this approach because they are not looking for results anymore, but potential. The sight of club legend Azpilicueta being torn apart by Cole Palmer suggested anything but potential for this Chelsea team. The emissions of Mudryk and Madueke caused confusion as these players had been in relatively good form for this season's standards, yet they also started on the bench.
With two more games left in Chelsea's season against Manchester United and Newcastle, there is no opportunity of salvaging the calamity that is this season. However, Lampard has an opportunity to help build a successful future even if he is not a part of it by giving faith to our young and hungry players.
If I would briefly summarise Lampard's second spell as Chesea manager, it would be as a poor after taste to what was already a disaster season for Chelsea. Not only has this season been record breaking in how poor it has been, but the sight of a Chelsea legend failing to envision any hope into fans has been heartbreaking. In the last two games of the season, Chelsea fans one thing to look forward to, the final whistle to a season from hell.