Is Lampard’s goose cooked?
Chelsea are looking at ‘German-speaking’ coaches to replace Frank Lampard as the pressure continues to ramp up on the Blues boss.
A limp sixth defeat of the season at Leicester on Tuesday night left Chelsea in eighth place, despite a summer spend of £230m that was expected to see them challenge for the title.
And the club’s hierarchy are looking into the possibility of hiring a coach fluent in German to get the best out of their Bundesliga acquisitions.
Kai Havertz and Timo Werner have both struggled to impose themselves in the Premier League since big-money moves from the Bundesliga in the summer.
Werner joined from RB Leipzig for £53m, while Havertz cost the Stamford Bridge outfit £89m when joining from Bayer Leverkusen.
As previously reported by Sportsmail, Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl is being considered by the Chelsea board, while Ralf Ragnick and Julian Naglesmann are also admired.
The coaching ethic of those schooled in the Bundesliga is also a massive draw for the Blues.
As evidenced with Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, there is a tendency for German-reared managers to avoid run-ins with club hierarchies due to the structure at most Bundesliga clubs - that include directors of football.
With Chelsea embracing similar methods, it adds to the desire at Stamford Bridge to bring in a less political character, according to the Athletic.
Indeed, they have had their hands burnt in recent years with in-fighting during the reigns of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte.
On Tuesday night, first-half goals from Wilfred Ndidi and James Maddison at the King Power Stadium lifted Leicester to the top of the Premier League — nine points clear of Lampard’s men, who are now five points adrift of the Champions League places.
Luck was not on Chelsea’s side: they were awarded a penalty with the score at 1-0, only for the spot-kick to be overturned after VAR ruled Jonny Evans fouled Christian Pulisic outside the box.
And in the closing moments, substitute Werner’s close-range volley was ruled out for a marginal offside.
But with Roman Abramovich, who spent £230m in the summer on the likes of Havertz, Werner, Hakim Ziyech and Ben Chilwell, rarely an owner to show patience, Lampard backed himself to handle the heat.
He said: ‘I am good at handling pressure. I took this job knowing there would be difficult times as it’s not a club ready to compete. -Dailymail
