Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel says he had concerns when board decided to sack Frank Lampard

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel revealed that he spoke with the club's board to confirm if they were certain about sacking legend Frank Lampard. Tuchel was appointed the manager in January 2021 after Lampard seemingly failed to deliver on the club's objectives. Under the German boss, Chelsea went on to win the elusive Champions League and secured a place in the Premier League's top four.

Chelsea boss confronted board about Frank Lampard's sacking

In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel made it clear that he was not sure if the club should have sacked legend, Frank Lampard. Tuchel said, "I actually said to the board, 'are you sure of doing this? Because they will not like you. Maybe he deserves more time.' Because when I think of Chelsea, I think about Frank Lampard, John Terry, Petr Cech, Didier Drogba."

The Chelsea boss added, "I think about him in the very first moment because he embodies everything that Chelsea is: hard work, aggressive player, a big leader but at the same time a normal guy on the pitch, and such a team player. A true, true legend." The English midfielder is Chelsea's record goalscorer with 177 goals (102 assists) in 609 Premier League appearances.

However, with the Chelsea board having already made the decision, Tuchel accepted the job. "But I clearly understood the choice was more or less made, and it was take it or leave it. Then I hoped for a fair chance with the players because when you step in, there is not everybody happy from 20, 22 players. You cannot expect everybody to be happy with the manager gone, especially because he had a good [Champions League] group stage, good results, good performances and sometimes he was also simply unlucky, with what the data showed to us."

Thomas Tuchel speaks of raised expectations after UCL win

Just five months after the sacking of Frank Lampard, Chelsea went on to win a historic Champions League when they defeated Manchester City in the final. Speaking of how the expectations have increased following the victory, the Chelsea boss said, "We raised the bar. It creates expectations, it creates demands, but I hope we don't get affected by it too much from the outside. I know what I demand from myself, which is always the highest level. I know what the team can produce - they are really ambitious, really competitive."