Chelsea Sack Frank Lampard
Frank Lampard will be sacked as Chelsea head coach on Monday, according to widespread reports.
It is said former Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel will take charge at Stamford Bridge just a month after leaving the Ligue 1 champions.
In eight Premier League games, news of Lampard’s departure is evidently expected to follow a streak of two wins.
The Blues’ record goalscorer was appointed in July 2019 and led them to a fourth-place finish and the FA Cup final in his debut campaign as a top-flight coach.
Chelsea invested heavily ahead of the 2020-21 season and were top of the table at the start of December.
But a dreadful run has seen Chelsea slide down to ninth, 11 points off the pace, reportedly costing club great Lampard his job the day after a 3-1 FA Cup win against Luton Town.
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Lampard’s failure to get the best out of an expensively assembled side appeared to heavily contribute to his demise.
Timo Werner continued his miserable run of form with a penalty miss against Luton, his only goal since November having come in the previous round of the cup at home to Morecambe.
Germany colleague Kai Havertz has netted only once in the Premier League, with his most recent three starts in the competition all coming in defeats.
Havertz was in the line-up at Everton when Chelsea, top after beating Leeds United in their first match in December, went down 1-0.
A late defeat at Wolves followed and victory over West Ham could not arrest the slump, as struggling rivals Arsenal eased past the Blues on Boxing Day.
Held by Aston Villa, Chelsea were then outclassed by Manchester City before a narrow win at relegation-battling Fulham eased the pressure only slightly.
Defeat at Leicester City – Premier League contenders while Chelsea flounder – was apparently the final straw, despite progress in the cup.
In Tuchel, a compatriot of Werner and Havertz, Chelsea would bring in a coach who won consecutive titles in France and also guided PSG to last season’s Champions League final.
The former Borussia Dortmund boss looks to have been preferred to Massimiliano Allegri and ex-Chelsea coach Rafael Benitez.
