Too many players downed tools, with Lampard's Chelsea job doomed for weeks
Chelsea have sacked Frank Lampard on Monday, and amongst the major issues was some of his own players giving up.
Chelsea legend Frank Lampard has been sacked by the club in just his second year of managing in the Premier League.
When the announcement of his appointment was made, I was over the moon, but full of caution. A manager who had only had one season in management, that being in the Championship as well - was it too soon for him?
The answer of course was yes, of course it was. His inexperience has often been on show and he has been learning as a coach as he goes along.
So why appoint him? Well, the board wanted to unite the fans after a turbulent few years with Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri at the helm, and they wanted a manager who they believed would be able to put a strong team out whilst under a transfer ban.
Lampard, alongside Jody Morris was the man they knew would introduce the right youngsters at the right time, and they did. It was a great achievement for them to get third spot in the league and reach the FA Cup Final last season.
But this season, with a host of new players and an over-sized squad, this is when the problems and his inexperience showed.
With the likes of Kai Havertz and Timo Werner not shining, Lampard might have been wise to build the formation around the pair. The board paid a lot of money for them, and they have constantly been telling Lampard to pick them both, but of course as we have seen he has failed to do this.
There has been naivety in tactics, such as not knowing how to see out a game, or only playing one way regardless of the opponents or the situation. His substitutions always come too late, and a lack of being pragmatic has hindered results.
But with all that aside, Lampard has tried to be a disciplined boss and deal with any players with bad attitudes, or players who are not on board with him - and this has been the major downfall.
Player power has once again caused the sacking of a manager at Chelsea - it has been heavily obvious to me that a number of players in recent matches are simply not playing for Lampard.
Take out the academy lads, as once again the likes of Mason Mount, Reece James, and Tammy Abraham proved in the Luton win that they are absolutely fighting for Lampard.
But the lack of effort and care from many of the other players is so plain to see, and whether it was being unhappy with not getting selected, or unhappy with Lampard’s tactics - Lampard was simply not having it from them and there were clashes and relationship breakdowns as a result.
Lampard has been let down massively by many Chelsea players, and this is unfortunately something we see far too often in modern football.
Too many players downed tools, with Lampard's Chelsea job doomed for weeks
I get the "player power" narrative, but am skeptical about it's impact. Maybe I don't appreciate just how fragile and eager-to-please club management is, but I don't buy them succumbing to everyday gripes from fringe players. This doesn't mean that certain players weren't making life difficult in the locker room, but the "player power" narrative only works with actual power.
I'm far more inclined to believe your paragraph right before the player power narrative: "There has been naivety in tactics, such as not knowing how to see out a game, or only playing one way regardless of the opponents or the situation. His substitutions always come too late, and a lack of being pragmatic has hindered results." Now *those* are real problems if I'm club management!