Former Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has admitted he had mixed emotions watching his old club win the Champions League final just a few months after he was sacked at Stamford Bridge.
Lampard had been struggling to get the best out of Chelsea when he made way for Thomas Tuchel in January, and the German tactician made an incredible immediate impact at the club.
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Lampard will surely feel he had a role to play in the Blues going all the way in Europe, but it must have been frustrating for him to feel like he didn’t get the opportunity to finish the job he’d started.
The 42-year-old is now working as a pundit for the BBC this summer during their coverage of Euro 2020, and he was asked about his time at Chelsea during the half time break of the England vs Croatia clash this afternoon.
When asked by Gary Lineker about his feelings after leaving Chelsea, Lampard said: “It’s the brutal reality of football at the top level. It’s been nice to spend some time out of the game.
“I’m proud of the job I did, it was an honour to manage the club. I came in at a tough time with the (transfer) ban and loss of Eden Hazard. We worked hard in year one to get into the Champions League, and developing young players like Mason (Mount) was a huge deal for me.
“I’m happy, you don’t want to lose your job but it was a huge experience for me. There’s a lot of things you can do differently … very proud of year one, in year two there were different expectations. Every team had problems this year, as did we and I lost my job. I can’t go back and look back in a negative way.
“Yeah (mixed emotions), when you’ve been manager you want to be there (at the Champions League final). Thomas has done a fantastic job getting us there, but firstly I’m a Chelsea fan, and secondly to see Mount and James perform at that level, and signings that came in when I was there, I’m very proud.”