"Chelsea will always be a massive club in my life" - Frank Lampard opens up on reason behind poor second stint as Blues head coach

Frank Lampard has opened up about his disappointing second stint as Chelsea manager in 2023. The Englishman also spoke about the state of the club and admitted that he did not cherish working there at the time.

Lampard returned to Stamford Bridge as caretaker manager in April 2023. The former midfielder was hired towards the tail end of the 2022-23 campaign as an emergency measure.

After Todd Boehly and a consortium of investors purchased the club in 2022, the new owners displayed a greater impatience concerning managers than their predecessor, Roman Abramovich.

After parting ways with Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter that season, Chelsea appointed Lampard in an attempt to make a recovery and close out the campaign.

However, the Englishman's brief tenure was quite unsuccessful as he secured just one victory from 11 games in charge. Speaking about his time at Stamford Bridge, Lampard told Sky Sports (via GOAL):

"I saw things that I know cannot be right at elite football and that's the truth. I didn't love working in that short period because it's hard to lay down an idea when you're going to be leaving but Chelsea will always be a massive club in my life.

"But when I understand the standards of Chelsea - in that period of time a lot of players were in transition of maybe leaving and some problems and motivation were a problem - in an interim period you can't really affect that."

He added:

"When you see the results of it, I'm experienced enough to know what's right and what's wrong and basic things in a training ground on a pitch. I didn't learn anything tactical but it did reinforce my beliefs of all my experiences of when you know what a group is really fighting in the same direction - how strong that can be and when it's not, it can be really challenging."

The Blues will next face Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on April 3.

Frank Lampard says he's 'absolutely better for the experience' after second Chelsea stint

During his first stint as Chelsea boss from July 2019, Lampard enjoyed a great debut campaign, helping the Blues finish fourth in the league to secure Champions League football.

He was then sacked in January 2021 before taking over the reins at Everton for a year, following which he returned to west London as caretaker manager.

Lampard opened up about how all his managerial experiences, including his first and second stints at Stamford Bridge, have helped him in his career. He said (via the aforementioned outlet):

"In my first week at Derby I was fresh, open-eyed to everything and there were a lot of things I needed to learn quickly. So I've certainly matured through that and seen that, and to be able to work at Derby in the Championship was a real development year for me."

"To then go to Chelsea and work in the Champions League and get into the Champions League, through the league - those things are all great experiences, so you kind of layer them up hopefully."

He concluded:

"Everton in a relegation battle and we stayed up, and even going back to Chelsea's interim, it was a really tough time at the club and I saw a lot of things with people questioning like was it the right thing to do…I'm absolutely better for the experience of that, even though it was six or seven weeks."