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Former Chelsea interim manager Frank Lampard has claimed that he had an impossible job motivating Blues players who had already given up on 2022/23 season
Chelsea legend Frank Lampard has opened up about his disastrous spell as Chelsea’s interim manager last season, noting that the task of motivating the squad was too difficult for any coach to pull off.
Chelsea finished 12th with legend Lampard in charge
The former Chelsea captain was tasked with keeping Chelsea’s 2022/23 campaign respectable after the Blues suffered under former boss Graham Potter but he was only able to guide them to a finish in the bottom half of the Premier League table.
Lampard noted that the team had already suffered too much by the time he arrived, and noted that a number of factors hampered the team’s motivation and desire, which he was unable to recover.
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Despite having an expensively assembled squad at his disposal, Lampard noted that the level that the Blues were playing at when he arrived was unbefitting of the Chelsea badge and said he was not surprised at the ensuing struggles.
Lampard joined a sinking ship as Chelsea boss
Speaking on The Diary of a CEO podcast, Lampard said he realised as soon as he joined the club that something was wrong.
He said, “I could see in training the the level wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to get a result at Brentford at home or whatever, let alone Real Madrid.”
He also noticed that after losing to Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals, things got even worse.
“When I got there I could see the team spirit and the togetherness was not there. It was nothing bad, but you have to train elite to be elite.
“The minute we didn't get through against Real, you're into that end of season zone and what are you playing for? And that is not the norm at Chelsea.
“At Chelsea, we should be playing for something. We played for not so much, another reason why motivation came down.”
Lampard also noted that it was difficult to motivate the large numbers in the Chelsea squad especially players who had been ostracised and felt they deserved better.
'When I came in, I noticed very quickly that some players were thinking the season was going to peter out and what the future would look like for them,” Lampard said.
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“If I'm a player that's not been playing for seven months and think I might be leaving in four weeks' time, I'm probably going to struggle to motivate that player. I haven't got a magic wand to motivate them.
“When you have international players in a big number, you're telling internationals they have to stay at home. It's not easy.”
Lampard has been out of work since leaving Chelsea at the end of the 2022/23 campaign and is looking to get back into management as soon as possible.
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