Chelsea midfielder Jorginho has told ESPN Brasil that former manager Frank Lampard “wasn’t ready” for the managerial job because he “skipped a few steps.”
Lampard took charge at Stamford Bridge in 2019 to replace Maurizio Sarri and led the club to a top four finish and an FA Cup final during his debut campaign. It was viewed as a successful season after Chelsea had lost star player Eden Hazard to Real Madrid and were unable to sign players due to a FIFA transfer ban.
Chelsea spent £220 million last summer but Lampard failed to get the best out of signings Timo Werner and Kai Havertz, which resulted in his sacking in January.
Jorginho only played the full 90 minutes on four occasions under Lampard this season and said the club’s all-time record goalscorer 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,” Jorginho told ESPN Brasil’s Resenha.
“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.”
Lampard’s first managerial role came at Derby County where he guided them to the 2019 Championship playoff final but suffered defeat at the hands of Aston Villa.
Thomas Tuchel replaced Lampard in January and has steered the team into the Champions League semifinals and back into contention to finish in the top four.
Speaking at his news conference ahead of the Premier League clash at West Ham United on Saturday, Tuchel said he is confident Chelsea supporters will forgive the owner after the club’s attempts to join a European Super League collapsed in the space of 72 hours.
“It’s the owner’s club, it’s not my club. I am part of the club,” he said. “It’s the club’s decision and now they’ve changed. So there’s no need to apologise to me. We were distracted, yeah, because otherwise it wouldn’t have made sense to focus on games.
“I arrived in a state of mind on Tuesday with not the usual mindset I arrive for a match. It’s in the past now. Like I said, I don’t think they need to apologise to me. Nobody needs to apologise [to me].
“I haven’t spoken to the owner since I arrived. I’ve spoken to the club before and after the match. I was told we were pulling out and that was all I needed to prepare against for the next match against West Ham.”