Former Arsenal player and pundit Paul Merson has urged Chelsea to part ways with Frank Lampard and bring in a permanent manager as soon as possible.
After making the recent decision to sack Graham Potter after just six months in charge, US billionaire owner Todd Boehly opted to rehire Lampard on a temporary basis until the end of the season while the club’s hierarchy conducts a job search.
Although former Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann appeared as an early contender, after withdrawing from the process, the Blues’ attention is believed to have switched to Mauricio Pochettino (Ben Jacobs).
But Merson doesn’t agree that this is the right way to go about things. Even though the Londoners’ season is as good as over after having nothing left to play for, there are still seven Premier League games left to save their pride, and Sky Sports’ Merson believes it would be more beneficial to hire a permanent manager now, rather than wait until the end of the season.
“Something has to be done now,” the ex-Gunner said.
“And that’s no disrespect to Frank [Lampard]. Frank was bought in for the Champions League [game against Real Madrid]. But you’ve got to get someone in. They’ve got to come in.
“[…] You’ve got to get rid of these players, they’ve got too many players – 30 players in their squad. Thiago Silva was saying they’ve had to knock a wall through for the team.”
🗣️ “Something has to be done now, you’ve got to get someone in. You’ve got to get rid of these players.”
Paul Merson says the Chelsea ownership are not giving the new manager enough time to prepare his team for the new season. 💭 pic.twitter.com/NlNBo18ZLj
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) April 22, 2023