Chelsea are believed to have narrowed their list of potential candidates to two names if results do not improve and pressured boss Frank Lampard is sacked.
Chelsea lost a fifth game in eight when they were largely beaten by Leicester last time and slipped to eighth in the Premier League table.
Lampard even said following this latest loss that he was “worried” by the alarming streak of results, admitting that many of his players hadn’t even done the bare minimum or the basics in terms of running, sprinting. and cover against the Foxes.
The 42-year-old has the lowest points-per-game average of any Chelsea manager during Roman Abramovich’s time and the fourth lowest in the entire Premier League era as a whole. He is now widely favored by bookmakers to be the next boss to get fired.
Lampard did get a free pass in his first season due to a transfer ban and the sale of Eden Hazard, but the Blues spent over £ 200million on new players ahead of the campaign current and, where applicable, have somewhat receded.
According to Sky Sports, Lampard must improve results “immediately” or he will toast. What could still save him is club officials who are watching the turnovers Mikel Arteta and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer patiently made at Arsenal and Manchester United respectively.
But Chelsea have already prepared in case they need to make the switch and have reportedly reduced a list of names to just two: Thomas Tuchel and Julian Nagelsmann.
Former AC Milan and Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri was also a name under consideration, but if Lampard leaves it is likely that Chelsea’s next coach will be German.
Tuchel is currently out of work after being sacked by Paris Saint-Germain last month. He has been closely linked with Chelsea in the past, although the Daily Telegraph recently claimed the club were actually warned in 2017 when considering replacing Antonio Conte because he could potentially be difficult to work with. Conte eventually stayed for another year.
The problem with Nagelsmann is that he won’t be leaving current club RB Leipzig until the end of the season. It would mean having to make temporary arrangements if Lampard is sacked and the man once nicknamed ‘Baby Mourinho’ is the new manager Chelsea specifically want.
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