CHELSEA
Luis Enrique was disappointed at Frank Lampard getting the job as Chelsea manager, he wanted to face Real Madrid
The Asturian coach wanted the job immediately and not at the end of the season, as he saw playing Real Madrid as a huge motivating factor.
Once upon a time, in a far-away land, Graham Potter stood on the touchline at Stamford Bridge and looked out onto the green surface that lay ahead of him. A football pitch: a place where the most unimaginable things in sport can happen and the most primitive and intense emotions are reborn on a weekly basis in love for a region, a city and a club. Dreams can be made in football, and being a manager is about the closest you can come to making that happen for so many people.
It all sounds delightful, until you hear 30,000 fans calling for your head and then the inevitable phone call: a meeting with the owner. You’re sacked. Your bag is in the car... and would you please take out the rubbish while you’re on your way out? It’s just your old tactical schemes and opposition video tapes that we don’t need anymore.
Has Chelsea’s new era of stability started yet?
And so, Graham Potter’s Chelsea toe-in-the-water was out and dry before it had even been felt; the new era of stability and calmness at Stamford Bridge must have to get shakier before it gets smoother. Potter, despite his growing reputation, didn’t have a magic anything at Chelsea and was promptly dismissed, with the name of Luis Enrique quickly on the lips of Todd Boehly, who had a video call with the club to allow the Spaniard to convince the board to hire him. Perhaps Boehly was misunderstood when he said that Chelsea were entering a new era of stability? And you could say the same thing for his prediction of Chelsea beating Real Madrid 0-3 in the Champions League. It’s all a matter of perceptions.
Luis Enrique Martínez (yes, Martínez is his surname, not Enrique) travelled two days later to meet with his potential employers, knowing that a trip to Madrid was on Chelsea’s horizon. This fixture was something that excited the manager, who, until that point, was said never to be too keen on taking on a club role mid-season.
Luis Enrique is still the favourite for the Chelsea job
The meeting reportedly went well, with the ex-Spain boss installing himself as the favourite for the role almost instantly. But then, on the morning after the night before, came the announcement: Frank Lampard had been chosen to take over Chelsea, who sit at the top of the (bottom half) of the Premier League table, until the end of the season.
Now, stop chuckling. Let’s see why Lampard deserves the role:
In all honesty, I don’t know why he got the job. Losses against Wolves, Real Madrid and most recently Brighton & Hove Albion came along in his first three games, showing that the ‘new-manager bounce’ does not come with a guarantee of knowing when the bins need to be put out at the training ground. Lampard has tried to calm things down in his press conferences, where he has spoke about self-belief and the 14-time European champions being very good at football, but despite his knowledge of the club, he is yet to find the keys to the motor.
Another tough test to come for Lampard
Even with the bruises, Chelsea face Real Madrid again on Tuesday 18 April and will go into the game 0-2 down after being outclassed all over the pitch in the first leg at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, where goals from Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio, as well as a red card for Chilwell, meant the Spanish side finished the game in cruise control. Lampard will be there as he looks for the unlikeliest of unlikely wins, and somewhere, Luis Enrique will be studying the public transport timetables for SW6. Remember, Luis Enrique, for your next interview in June, the Chelsea website says fans can get to the stadium using the number 14, 211 and 414 buses.
