Frank Lampard has called on Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly to take inspiration from Arsenal and the faith they showed in Mikel Arteta in a bid to bring stability to Stamford Bridge.
The Blues, languishing in 12th in the Premier League, have had four different managers this campaign, with Thomas Tuchel replaced by Graham Potter in September. Yet the former Brighton manager’s recent dismissal saw Bruno Saltor oversee first-team affairs for one game before Frank Lampard was appointed as interim boss.
Lampard became the club’s first manager to lose each of his opening four matches in the hotseat before his miserable time in the dugout continued this week as Brentford inflicted a fifth successive defeat for the Blues with a two-goal victory at Stamford Bridge last week.
The interim coach will be hoping to avoid a sixth straight defeat as he takes his side to Arsenal on Tuesday night – a win will take the Gunners back to the top of the standings, albeit having played more games than Manchester City. Arsenal boss Arteta guided the club to disappointing successive eighth-placed finishes in the division but the club stuck by him during tough times.
“I think it’s interesting to compare the Arsenal story,” Lampard explained in his pre-match press conference, highlighting the contrasting approaches of the two clubs. “Because we all had a little insight into Arsenal with the Amazon series and I think when you see what they are producing now, looking myself as a football person, the interesting thing about watching the series and seeing before that when I went up against Mikel when I was the Chelsea manager in that first year, was that there’s a long process to get to where you want to get to.
“I remember playing against Mikel’s teams in that early stage which were sometimes five at the back, sometimes four, sometimes they build with a four and defend with a five, and all these things, and now they have a very, very clear identity and they have a clear, through recruitment, change of squad, pretty much the team completely, other than maybe the players who have come through.
"And obviously you always need academy players to come through of a high level and they’ve had that.”
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Lampard then called on Stamford Bridge bosses to replicate that approach: “I think do we have the possibility to do that? Yes. Will it take a lot of time and good decisions along the way? Absolutely, yes – but you can get there.”
Lampard added: “But of course, those things have been a credit to Arsenal because I saw, and you remember the times the manager was being questioned quite a few times, the owners were being questioned, the players were being questioned.
“And that process can take two or three years, which it has done. And within that two or three years you’ve got to make a lot of right decisions and keep working in a good way.”
Mauricio Pochettino is now set to take charge at Chelsea this summer having previously led Tottenham to three successive top three league finishes – including second spot in the 2016/17 campaign – alongside guiding Spurs to their first ever Champions League final in 2019.
He had previously been linked to the Manchester United job, but the club ultimately chose to appoint Erik ten Hag.
The Argentine subsequently spent a season-and-a-half at Paris Saint-Germain prior to his sacking at the end of last season. Pochettino has been out of football for 11 months, despite having led PSG to the Ligue 1 title in his one full season at the helm. His failures with the club on the European stage ultimately sealed his fate in Paris.
