Frank Lampard said turning around Chelsea’s fortunes will be the next manager’s problem as he prepares to bow out from his interim role after Sunday’s game against Newcastle.
The team’s wretched season slumped to a new low with a 4-1 thumping against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Thursday, the ninth defeat of Lampard’s 11 games in charge.
If results go against them on the final day they could finish as low as 14th and equal their worst placing in the Premier League era.
They are already guaranteed to end with their lowest points tally in the competition, with the fewest number of goals the club have scored in a Premier League campaign.
Mauricio Pochettino is expected to be appointed as the club’s next permanent manager in the coming days and his in-tray will include quickly slimming down a bloated first-team squad and installing cohesion in a team that has lost its way since Graham Potter was sacked in April.
Chelsea have won only once in the almost two months since Potter was removed seven months into a five-year contract, and the task of rediscovering the team’s form has seemingly grown more daunting with each defeat.
A remedy has proved beyond Lampard in his short time in charge, and he was asked whether the incoming manager will have the toughest job of any Chelsea boss in the last 20 years.
“It’s a good headline but I don’t know,” said Lampard. “It remains to be seen, I can’t jump into the future.
“I think it is a fantastic job because it is the Chelsea job and when I took it first time (in 2019) I came I probably got it it was because a lot of top managers didn’t want that, I know that for a fact.
“I enjoyed the process and I enjoyed coming in and I wish the new manager well.
“I don’t know… it’s his problem I guess – is that the headline you wanted?”
One of the hindering factors during Lampard’s reign has been the size of the squad, with 34 first-team players vying for selection following co-owner Todd Boehly’s whirlwind transfer activity during his first 12 months in control.
It has meant limited playing time for younger members of the squad, even those signed for large fees and with high expectations.
Carney Chukwuemeka joined from Aston Villa for £20million last summer but has struggled for minutes, whilst Noni Madueke arrived for £29m from PSV Eindhoven and has featured just 11 times.
Both players started the loss at Old Trafford and played 82 minutes before being substituted and Lampard said he was pleased with the application of players that came in having not been regulars in the side.
“I don’t want to go into individuals,” he said. “I thought Carney did really well (against United) coming in to midfield with personality. It has been one of the harder parts of my job with the numbers in the squad.
“Going with a team to win important games and working with the younger players who we haven’t seen before because normally there is a process and a pre-season.
“We haven’t had that time. I thought Carney did well, I thought Noni did pretty well again and the flip of that was that Azpi (Cesar Azpilicueta) was fantastic with his captaincy and attitude.
“It is 70 per cent of the game how you apply yourself and your attitude.”
Keane doubts Man Utd will crack top four under Amorim this season
Roy Keane does not believe Manchester United will get back into the Premier League's top four under Ruben Amorim this season due to a "real lack of quality".
The Red Devils legend was speaking after United started life under the Portuguese with a 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town, as Omari Hutchinson cancelled out Marcus Rashford's second-minute opener.
Keane acknowledged Amorim has to be given time to turn things around at Old Trafford, but does not see United cracking the top four this season.
"You have to give the man a chance," Keane told Sky Sports. "But the threat going forward, it's a huge problem for Man Utd. It's not good enough.
"Do I believe they have the quality to get them back to top four? Absolutely not. The evidence is not there. It's the same old stuff. Predictable and a real lack of quality."
United created 0.9 xG compared to Ipswich's 1.75 and had fewer shots on target (four) compared to Ipswich (six) at Portman Road.
They did have more touches in the opposition box (16 to 11) but had fewer final-third entries (48 to 61) and big chances created (two to three).
Ipswich were extremely resilient opponents after their early setback, and Tractor Boys boss Kieran McKenna praised his side, particularly Hutchinson after he grabbed his first Premier League goal.
"I thought he (Hutchinson) was a big threat first half, naturally more a winger, but most teams are going to press us high and in the spaces in the middle of the pitch having a dribbler in the middle of the pitch who's elusive and hard to pick up can be a big threat," he told Sky Sports.
"I think it's his first goal in the Premier League he'll be happy to have that of his back and he's improving."
"The first half, it's a blow to concede the early goal but I thought as the half went on we grew in the ascendancy, and the intensity of pressing and work on the ball.
"I thought we were the dominant team in the first half and deserved to be going in at least level. Second half in fairness, Man Utd had more control. It was difficult, we had to defend with real discipline on shape."
Leganes 0-3 Real Madrid: Mbappe and Bellingham score as Blancos close on Barcelona
Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham were both on target as Real Madrid moved to within four points of LaLiga leaders Barcelona with a 3-0 win at Leganes.
Federico Valverde also scored for Carlo Ancelotti's side, who still have a game in hand on leaders Barca, who were pegged back in a 2-2 draw with Celta Vigo on Saturday.
Mbappe ended a goal drought of over 400 minutes after being teed up by Vinicius Junior shortly before half-time, moments after Leganes had surrendered possession near the edge of their own area.
Madrid dominated possession throughout the second half and doubled their advantage in the 66th minute, Valverde drilling a low effort home from a free-kick won by Bellingham.
Bellingham later got in on the act with a header on the rebound after substitute Brahim Diaz rattled the crossbar, as Madrid cruised to back-to-back league wins.
Data Debrief: Dirty work pays off for Madrid
Mbappe's opener, scored at a vital time shortly before the interval, set Madrid on their way to victory on Sunday.
Eduardo Camavinga and Bellingham both pressed high to help the visitors recover possession in the build-up, and Madrid have now scored five goals resulting from high turnovers in LaLiga this season – the most of any team across Europe's top five leagues.
This was the first time Ancelotti had faced Leganes in LaLiga, and he has now beaten all 28 different opponents he has come up against in the competition.
Napoli 1-0 Roma: Lukaku downs former club on Ranieri's return
Claudio Ranieri's Roma return was spoilt by Romelu Lukaku, whose goal against his old club sealed a 1-0 win for Napoli.
Ranieri was appointed Roma boss over the international break, with the 73-year-old coming out of retirement to take charge of the club for a third time.
Yet it was ex-Roma striker Lukaku who decided Sunday's contest at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, with his 54th-minute effort sending Antonio Conte's team back to the top of Serie A.
Lukaku was well-placed to convert from Giovanni Di Lorenzo's cutback, bringing up his fifth Serie A goal of the campaign.
Roma, who had just two attempts and managed only 0.07 expected goals (xG) in the first half, woke up after Lukaku's goal, with Artem Dovbyk powering a header off the woodwork from a free-kick minutes later, but the visitors' comeback attempts proved fruitless.
Ranieri's next task is to rally his troops for a Europa League clash with Tottenham on Thursday.
Data Debrief: Ranieri's underwhelming return
There was no sign of an immediate upturn for 12th-place Roma, if they were hoping for a new-coach bounce.
Roma ended the first half with fewer than 70 successful passes (68). It is the first time they have had so few successful passes in the opening half of a league game since 2004-05.
With only three wins to their name in the league, they have won fewer than four matches in their opening 13 Serie A games for the first time since the 1978-79 campaign (also three).
And of course, it had to be Lukaku, who was leading their line last season, that delivered the hammer blow. The Belgium international has been involved in nine goals in Serie A this term (five goals, four assists). Only his former Everton club-mate Ademola Lookman, now a star at Atalanta, has contributed to more goals in the competition (seven goals, four assists).
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