Chelsea legend claims Guardiola, Mourinho ‘would struggle’ to do a better job than Frank Lampard

Claude Makelele has controversially claimed Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola would not be doing a better job than Frank Lampard at Chelsea. 

The Blues reappointed the recently sacked Everton boss in April, following the departure of Graham Potter, but he has failed to turn their form around.

Incredibly, Lampard lost his first six games in charge of Chelsea – the first manager to do so in the club’s 118-year history.

But, arguably, that wasn’t his fault. The former England international inherited an oversized squad filled with talent but with zero chemistry, direction or vision in their playing style.

Indeed, Chelsea currently sit in 11th place in the Premier League table and are on track for their worst campaign since 1996. This is despite club co-owner Todd Boehly spending ridiculous sums of money on new players.

As it stands, the Blues are tipped to appoint Mauricio Pochettino as Lampard’s successor, after he, as mentioned, has failed to rectify his team’s poor form.

But for now, Lampard’s focus will be on getting as many points as possible from Chelsea’s four remaining Premier League matches.

READ MORE: Chelsea now a ‘viable’ option for PSG superstar, as Boehly plans to offload £80m man in shock trade-off

Makelele: Guardiola, Mourinho couldn’t do better than Lampard

Despite his horrendous record, Lampard’s former Blues teammate Makelele has claimed Guardiola and Jose Mourinho would have found things equally as difficult had they been given the job.

“It’s a difficult situation – not only for Frank – it would be for any other manager,” Makelele told the Mirror.

“You could have brought in Guardiola, Mourinho or whoever you think is the best. But they would have struggled because he was dealing with very new players.

“He didn’t know their background and everything that’s going on. Frank accepted the challenge. The win last Saturday would have done some good and brought a little bit of happiness.”

Makelele added that Chelsea’s current situation ‘isn’t negative’ and has backed his former club to bounce back emphatically next season.

“Football isn’t easy – the strategy of this new owner is normal with different people coming in. We’ve seen many examples of that.

“You can look at Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain… Chelsea’s situation isn’t negative. It can change – and it can change quickly.

“We are building a young team. If you look at Arsenal, that’s exactly what they are doing. We need a bit of time. Next season we will be ready.”

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