They say you can’t go home again, but if you’re Frank Lampard, you can at least stop by for a prolonged visit.
The former England midfielder has been appointed Chelsea’s caretaker manager, returning to the club where he spent around 15 years as a player and coach.
“We are delighted to welcome Frank back to Stamford Bridge,” co-controlling owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali said in a statement.
“Frank is a Premier League Hall of Famer and a legend at this club. As we continue our thorough and exhaustive process for a permanent head coach, we want to provide the club and our fans with a clear and stable plan for the remainder of the season. We want to give ourselves every chance of success and Frank has all of the characteristics and qualities we need to drive us to the finish line.”
Chelsea found themselves with a managerial opening after dismissing Graham Potter just seven months after hiring him to replace Thomas Tuchel. It doesn’t take a particularly robust memory to recall that Tuchel was himself sacked back in September as Boehly seemed to believe that cleaning house was essential after buying the club last summer.
Lampard will be the fourth person to act as Chelsea’s manager this season, following Bruno Saltor’s one-game role as an interim boss saw the Blues and Liverpool battle to a scoreless draw on Tuesday.
Lampard will hold the role through the end of the season, with Chelsea reportedly considering a list of candidates that includes Julian Nagelsmann (jobless after being shockingly fired by Bayern Munich), Mauricio Pochettino, Sporting CP manager Rúben Amorim, Eintracht Frankfurt’s Oliver Glasner and former Spain boss Luis Enrique.
Chelsea’s roughly one-and-a-half season run under Lampard from July 2019 to January 2021 was a decidedly mixed experience. In 2019-20, Lampard guided Chelsea to a fourth-place finish in the Premier League, an FA Cup final, and to advancement out of a potentially difficult Champions League group.
However, they were 33 points behind the Liverpool side that won the league, lost that FA Cup final to Arsenal, and crashed out of the League Cup (to Manchester United) and Champions League (after a 7-1 thrashing by Bayern Munich) earlier than the club had hoped.
The following season started off well enough, with just one Premier League loss in their first 11 matches and an emphatic first-place finish in their Champions League group. The wheels would fall off in December, though, with Chelsea taking just seven points from his final eight league matches in charge.
Lampard’s struggles would end up in sharp relief after his successor Thomas Tuchel would lead the Blues to a Champions League trophy and a climb back into the top four.
Opportunity for Pulisic
Chelsea were clearly hit-or-miss under Lampard, even if we’re being generous, but one player who thrived for at least part of his time in charge is Christian Pulisic.
In the 2019-20 season, his first following several seasons with Borussia Dortmund, Pulisic produced 11 goals and 10 assists. That made him Chelsea’s most prolific set-up man, and only Tammy Abraham scored more goals for the club.
That represents Pulisic’s best season as a professional, and his time in London since has largely been a pursuit of that kind of form and consistent place in a given manager’s team. Even under Lampard, it must be said that the 2020-21 campaign saw Pulisic score just two goals in 17 appearances across all competitions.
Still, a new manager is always an opportunity, and Pulisic will be looking to force his way back into more regular minutes. Whether his long-term future is with Chelsea or not, it’s a big moment for the U.S. men’s national team attacker.
