Frank Lampard’s momentary reign at Chelsea is a “dangerous gamble” however might effectively repay for the beleaguered membership, believes Rafael Benitez.
Former Blues head coach Lampard returned to his former publish on a short-term foundation on April 6 following Graham Potter’s dismissal.
But with three losses from his first three video games in cost, it has been removed from a glowing reunion for the membership’s file goalscorer.
Benitez, who led Chelsea as interim boss himself for the majority of the 2012-13 season, feels there may be nonetheless time for Lampard to impact a turnaround.
“It was a shock for everybody [re-appointing Lampard], however he has been there for a few years and is aware of the gamers,” Benitez informed the Telegraph.
“It’s a dangerous gamble that we are going to solely be capable to assess, as virtually all the time, on the finish. He has a fantastic squad at his disposal, he is aware of the Premier League.
“He is aware of the gamers, the workers and the followers will give him extra leeway than one other supervisor as a result of he was a fantastic participant there. He may give them extra peace of thoughts within the brief time period.”
One other of Benitez’s former golf equipment, Actual Madrid, stood in Chelsea’s method on Tuesday, with the Blues seeking to overturn a 2-0 deficit of their Champions League quarter-final.
Collectively, something is feasible. An enormous evening at Stamford Bridge, let’s do that.
COME ON CHELSEA! #UCL pic.twitter.com/wghlHUSmqw
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 18, 2023
Lampard was Benitez’s captain for the 2013 Europa League ultimate victory over Benfica, the lone honour of a season that noticed the Spanish coach expertise a thorny relationship with the membership’s fanbase.
The previous Liverpool boss acknowledges his time on Merseyside possible colored a unfavorable impression of him amongst Chelsea followers, however he retains fond reminiscences from his spell at Stamford Bridge, steering Chelsea to 3rd place within the Premier League and semi-finals of the EFL Cup and FA Cup.
“It’s not misplaced on anybody that [Roman] Abramovich’s Chelsea had been the strongest group within the Premier League once I arrived at Liverpool,” Benitez mentioned. “We competed with them and beat them within the Champions League a number of instances, these video games had a variety of rigidity, and it’s not simple for a fan to neglect the emotional half.
“Thankfully, we [at Chelsea] greater than fulfilled our goals of qualifying straight for the Champions League and, on prime of that we additionally gained the Europa League. I believe everybody now sees it as a hit.”
If Chelsea had been on the lookout for encouragement forward of the Madrid second leg, it was supplied by latest historical past.
The Blues have progressed from 5 of their final seven Champions League ties when dropping the primary leg away from residence, doing so in every of the final two when dropping by two clear objectives: in opposition to Napoli in 2011-12 and Paris Saint-Germain in 2013-14.
