Chelsea Sacking Frank Lampard Is The Latest Example Of European Soccer’s Impatience

When Chelsea sacked its manager – and club legend – Frank Lampard earlier this week, fans, press and pundits generally seemed to agree it was harsh.

Lampard, Chelsea’s record goal scorer, was manager for just 18 months of a three-year contract. He had joined after a decent, if not spectacular, first season of management with Derby County.

His first season at Stamford Bridge was respectable, Chelsea finishing 4th and losing in the FA Cup final. In last summer’s transfer window, he was backed with more than £200 million ($273.5m) to spend on seven major signings. It was the most any club spent on new recruits.

Some – perhaps including the Chelsea board – thought this would be enough to challenge for the club’s first title since 2017.

Instead, Chelsea has rarely convinced this season and the team’s recent run of form has been poor. With one win in five matches and Chelsea 9^th in the table, Lampard was fired.

If Lampard’s sacking was seen as harsh, though, it should not have been a big surprise. While the pandemic has seen managers in European soccer given more time than normal, at the elite level the tendency is still towards “knee-jerk” decisions.

Since his arrival as Chelsea owner in 2003, Roman Abramovich has now dismissed 14 head coaches. Chelsea is one of the worst offenders but the culture of impulsive decision making is well established throughout the top tiers of professional soccer.

In the Premier League, for example, only six managers of the 20 teams have been in their job longer than three years. Such demand for instant success drives short-term thinking.

How much of this is fueled by the clubs’ desire for success (and fear of failure) and how much comes from media influence is an interesting debate.

Arsenal, for example, was apparently contenders for relegation a few weeks ago. Now, after a good run of results, it is in the top half of the table and three points off the top six. Qualifying for the Champions League is still a possibility.

Liverpool, according to some reports, was in “crisis” after a run of five league games without a win. But after a comprehensive win at Tottenham yesterday, Liverpool is now just four points behind leaders Manchester City, albeit having played an extra match.

Elite soccer is a high-pressure business, where results count above all else. But it’s easy to see how a little more considered thinking, and planning further ahead than the next match, would be a more sustainable path to success.

At the top of any business there are hard decisions to be made and Abramovich clearly felt Chelsea needed a new manager now. With a well-credentialed coach like Thomas Tuchel available, he wouldn’t give Lampard more time.

Perhaps the decision will be vindicated. Chelsea could still finish in the top four, which would be a reasonable result in this strange and unpredictable season. Perhaps next season Tuchel will guide Chelsea to a league title. Or perhaps Lampard, when he is given another opportunity at another club, will develop into a fine manager and Chelsea’s decision to sack him will look premature.    

Tuchel knows the demands and expectations he must meet. He is only available because Paris Saint-Germain sacked him despite winning the domestic title and reaching the Champions League final.

This season, if Tuchel does enough to be considered a successful hire and to justify the sacking of Lampard, Chelsea’s impatience will have been rewarded.

If not, he will be well aware time is ticking on European soccer’s relentless clock.