Frank Lampard's five biggest managerial blunders

Jacque Talbot

• Updated: 27 Apr 2023 11:38 BST
• 3 min read

It sounds like a fairytale - that a club’s arguably biggest legend would come back and save the season.

The trouble is that the legend is a really terrible manager. Frank Lampard’s second tenure at Chelsea reached a nadir with a 2-0 loss to Brentford.

Of course, Chelsea won’t get relegated - but you can’t deny that there have been some murmurs.

In any case, Lampard has been given plenty of games to secure a legacy as a top coach - but he’s failed at every opportunity.

FootballTransfers lists five of the biggest blunders that Lampard has made during his time in management.

Frank Lampard suffering worst defeat by a Chelsea manager for 41 years

When he began his first tenure as Chelsea boss it was in the worst possible way - a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester United at Old Trafford.

After doing OK for a brief spell, the Blues just chucked the game away, conceding three goals in the final 25 minutes.

It was his first game as Chelsea's boss after being handed the job during the summer, following his time at Derby County.

Starting Conor Gallagher as a striker against Brentford

On Wednesday night, Lampard shocked the footballing world by starting Conor Gallagher alongside Raheem Sterling up front. The Bees ran out 2-0 winners, quite unsurprisingly in fairness, as the Chelsea players were booed off at halftime and full-time.

Gallagher didn’t find the back of the net - another one of Lampard’s masterplans to go in the history books.

Dropping Fikayo Tomori

During his first tenure at Chelsea, Lampard opted not to use Fikayo Tomori. Instead, he used Kurt Zouma in his place, who played alongside Thiago Silva.

The omittance of Tomori saw the youngster push for an exit in the January window - and eventually, he found a way out to AC Milan, where he’s enjoyed rich success at the San Siro.

Under-preparing for Real Madrid

Lampard made a bizarre admission that he didn’t realise Real Madrid were very good before Chelsea faced them in the Champions League earlier this month.

Goals from Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio sealed a 2-0 win for defending Champions League holders Madrid in the first-leg quarter-final contest. And after the game, the former Blues legend said that he ‘didn’t know’ Los Blancos ‘were that good’ of a team.

Thinking he could save Chelsea (twice)

There is the idea that Lampard has been gifted certain jobs because of his name. While other club legends - say, Xabi Alonso - have went off and put the legwork in at smaller clubs, Lampord - considered something of a media darling to the English press - went from Derby to Chelsea almost immediately.

And now he’s back - and it’s going as about you would expect.