Cesar Azpilicueta celebrates scoring a goal for Chelsea.
According to The Telegraph (Subscription Required), Infighting among the players was a common theme at Chelsea in the events leading up to Frank Lampard losing his job.
Tensions ran high, with skipper Cesar Azpilicueta and out of favour German international Antonio Rudiger clashing heads numerous times.
Azpilicueta attempted to ease tensions between players, with academy stars also said to have been upset at their treatment. There have been claims of favouritism under Lampard.
The likes of Rudiger, Marcos Alonso and Jorginho were all players Lampard was keen to be rid of. However, with the club unable to do so, he was forced to endure their presence in the squad.
All three have been said to have caused issues for Lampard prior to his sacking. Accusations of Lampard showing favouritism haven’t only been labelled by the youth players but also those from the first-team.
Lampard also struggled to get the best out of his expensive summer signings. In short, there appear to have been a myriad of issues behind the scenes.
Roman Abramovich grew unhappy over the performances of the expensively assembled team and decided it was time for a change. He can be given the benefit of the doubt considering Lampard has the lowest points per game ratio of any manager under his reign. (h/t Daily Mail)
Thomas Tuchel will now be entrusted to repair the friction within the squad and have the Blues pick up their performances on the field. Whether the German can do that remains to be seen.
It would be fair to say that the Chelsea job came too soon for Lampard. A competent manager at Derby County, he was still learning the tricks of the trade at Pride Park.
While he did his best, Chelsea is a job that demands nothing short of glory. Whether he will make a glorious return in the future remains to be seen.
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