‘Tuchel hasn’t won anything yet!’ – Ex-England star defends Lampard’s Chelsea record

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 3 min read

Frank Lampard’s record as Chelsea manager has been defended by his former England colleague David James, who has compared his numbers with incumbent Thomas Tuchel.

When Lampard was sacked in January, the Blues were ninth in the league, five points behind the Champions League spots.

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Tuchel, meanwhile, has lifted them to third in a matter of 16 matches, while the Blues have also progressed to the final of the Champions League, where they will face Manchester City.

Speaking after Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Man City on Sunday, James pointed out that Tuchel does not necessarily deserve the acclaim he has thus far received, arguing particularly against those who have hailed the German’s ability to organise the defence.

“They haven’t won anything yet,” he told Stadium Astro. “We’ll see at the end of the season if it was the right decision to appoint him.

“If you look at Frank Lampard this season, there was a spell of games when they played 10 times and kept eight clean sheets, so this defence was already capable of keeping clean sheets. It’s not something that Thomas Tuchel has revolutionised; he’s just done it over a long period of time.”

Chelsea have kept 18 clean sheets in 25 matches under former Paris Saint-Germain boss Tuchel but James says the biggest difference has come in attack.

Chelsea 2020/21

“The issue has been scoring goals,” he argued. “If you look at Chelsea’s leading scorer in the Premier League, six or seven goals. They haven’t got an out-and-out scorer. They’ve become a more fluid side. This was where Frank was more dependent on Tammy Abraham, whereas Tuchel has looked at it and said: ‘Our guys are quick, they’re skilful and anyone can score, we don’t care who does it.’

“Tuchel is obviously better than Frank, but the defensive part of the argument: Chelsea had already proven they could keep clean sheets. He’s just added another layer.”

Chelsea play Arsenal on Wednesday then tackle Leicester in the FA Cup final on 15 May, when Tuchel could win his first silverware at Stamford Bridge.