Too Early to Judge Lampard After Demolition by United

Despite the 4 – nil loss in his first game as manager, it is too early to judge Frank Lampard.

Manchester United handed Chelsea a damning loss at the Old Trafford. The 4 – 0 scoreline was quite ridiculous as it was when the Blues drew the Irish league side Bohemians in July.

The score was one of the worst Premier League results for a new manager. Sunderland’s 4-0 loss at Swansea in October 2013 was equally worse.  The match was the managerial debut of Gustavo Poyet. For the club, it was the biggest defeat for a manager on his first try. The 7-2 record of Danny Blanchflower against Middlesbrough in December 1978 still holds the record of being the worst.

There are a lot of depressing records to add against Lampard but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer begged to disagree. As a matter of fact, the United head coach admitted that his team were fortunate to have the lead in the first half.

“There were lots of elements about today that I liked,” he said. “We were intense in our pressure. We won the ball back high in lots of areas. We dominated the midfield. For big spells in the first half they couldn’t get out. But football is won and lost in the boxes. They won it by being clinical.”

During the game, the Blues showed that they can dominate any match. They had more of the ball, had more corners and tried to put the ball to the net more.

Lampard’s squad were in fact aggressive but were just unlucky not able to convert where it matters. The Blues managed to do these with three home-grown players on the starting XI – Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham and Andreas Christensen.

Both Mount and Abraham played well, but they need to adjust fast if they want to succeed in the higher league. Despite the margin of errors these two lads had, Lampard defended them against the tirade of the former Chelsea boss, Jose Mourinho. The former coach gave Mount a handful at the end of the game.

“I believe we have really talented young players but, let’s be clear, with the injuries we have and the fact we couldn’t bring in players, this is a work in progress – to a degree. We will have to learn harsh lessons and correct them pretty quickly,” Lampard said.