Frank Lampard was not ready for Chelsea; Jorginho

Chelsea boss midfielder, Jorginho, has said former manager Frank Lampard “wasn’t ready” for the managerial job, because he “skipped a few steps”.

Jorginho stated this in an interview with ESPN Brasil. Lampard replaced Maurizio Sarri in 2019, leading the Blues to a top-four finish and an FA Cup final during his debut campaign. It was viewed as a successful season, especially after Chelsea had lost Eden Hazard to Real Madrid and could not sign players due to a FIFA transfer ban. Chelsea splashed out £220 million last summer but Lampard failed to get the best out of new boys Timo Werner and Kai Havertz, which resulted in his dismissal in January.

Jorginho only played 90 minutes on four occasions under Lampard this season and feels the former England midfielder needed more experience in management before taking over at Chelsea. “Look, I’ll be really sincere here on Lampard. I believe, given he was a legend at the club, he skipped some steps necessary for learning before moving to a big club.

He came to a club where he is a legend, without having experience at other clubs. I think he came too soon, skipped a few steps ahead and wasn’t ready for a job at this level, to be honest,” he said. Lampard’s first managerial role was at Derby County, where he guided the Rams to the 2019 Championship playoff final losing to Aston Villa.