When Farke was sacked, someone asked me if they thought Norwich would go for Frank Lampard. I very confidently answered ‘No’.
In my mind he wasn’t a good fit for Norwich, he didn’t seem the fit the profile you’d expect Stuart Webber to target, Norwich are a ‘smart’ club, Lampard doesn’t feel ‘smart’. He feels obvious. Webber is supposed to have a rolodex of managers from across Europe, with difficult to pronounce names that intrigue and excite. Someone who had a stint in Latvia, or managed a B-Team in Finland. Someone football hipsters would tell us is brilliant (which may or may not be true) and has novel ideas about football and life.
However, as the days passed and Lampard’s name was continually connected to the job I started to reassess my views. It can be very hard to seperate Frank Lampard the Chelsea and England ‘legend’ with Frank Lampard the young manager. It is hard because Lampard secured his biggest and longest job at Chelsea based mainly on his legend status, rather than his ability as a manager. It can be easy to overlook his actual achievements (or lack of them) due to a defining narrative that is impossible to escape.
When Daniel Farke arrived with absolutely zero backstory known to fans at Norwich he had the chance to build his own narrative, fans could slowly discover how he was top of the class when obtaining his coaching badges, they could discover that he seemingly had a thing for Keira Knightley, they could discover he once rode a horse onto a football pitch despite hating horses. Daniel Farke was Norwich’s, no one else's (don’t tell Lippstadt fans).
Lampard is definitely not ‘Norwich’s’, there is nothing to discover about Lampard the footballer, or the person, as he has been a part of football in England for the last 20+ years. However, I feel there is still much to be discovered about Lampard the manager. Ask fans as to what style of football Lampard plays and they are likely to struggle to answer — there is also a fair question mark over whether he was actually good at Derby and Chelsea.
While his sacking at Chelsea was considered slightly harsh by some when it happened, Thomas Tuchel coming in and winning the Champions’ League that season has meant that it is now considered perfectly correct and Lampard must have been doing a bad job considering what happened afterwards. I’d argue that Tuchel is probably one of the top 5 managers in the world and the fact he did better than Lampard isn’t necessarily a massive slight on his ability.
So what will Norwich get with Lampard?
As a manager with only 2 and half seasons under his belt — and with two teams in very different circumstances — it is hard to get an entirely clear picture on what he’ll bring.
He isn’t someone, like Farke, who talks passionately about his ‘philosophy’ and is perhaps more of a pragmatist. He has though shown a fairly consistent tactical approach at Derby and Chelsea, where he has favoured either a 4–2–3–1 or a 4–3–3 (he also dabbled with a back 3–4–2–1 in his first season at Chelsea).
His first season at Chelsea was certainly his best as a manager, handed the job at a time of transition and ‘crisis’ due to the sale of Eden Hazard and the transfer embargo, Lampard was charged with keeping Chelsea in the top 4 and integrating player’s from Chelsea’s academy into the first team. No mean feat when you consider Chelsea had barely had an academy graduate in the team after John Terry had retired.
Lampard had worked with Tomori and Mount at Derby and had the confidence in them to bring them into the Chelsea first team, along with Reese James and Tammy Abraham (as well as a few glimpse of Billy Gilmour).
That season saw Chelsea play a high tempo, short passing, high pressing system. They ended up with the third highest amount of goals scored, but having conceded more goals than anyone else in the top 10 of the Premier League. It is these defensive worries that continued into the next season that ultimately caused Lampard’s downfall. In trying to accomodate the high profile signings made by Chelsea, he moved away from the system he’d developed in the first season and while starting the season well and having them in the top 4 at Christmas, performances slumped in the new year and Tuchel being available was just too tempting for the hierarchy in West London.
However, much of what Lampard did at Chelsea fits into what is Norwich’s philosophy for a manager. Someone who promotes youth players, looks to play attacking football, and with a potential to significantly develop their own skills.
Football consultancy and all round ‘smart’ people SmarterScout were very positive about Lampard’s performance in his first season. With a ‘100%’ confidence he was getting more out of attack and ‘99%’ confidence he was getting more out of defence based on the players he had.
Why the negativity?
Lampard is Norwich’s highest ever profile manager, and this is what is probably rubbing many Norwich fans the wrong way. Certainly since Webber’s arrival, and even previous to this, Norwich have looked to work a little bit under the radar, avoiding big name signings, avoiding getting involved with high profile managers and trying to avoid the whole Premier League media circus crashing into Colney. Norwich aren’t a West Ham, Newcastle etc who have often courted this attention to raise their profile (and value). This just isn’t how Norwich are used to working.
As soon as Farke’s sacking was announced, Norwich fans (and I include myself in this )were trawling through European football looking for the hot young manager, without wondering if that person was actually in England.
If Lampard had done what he has done so far in his career, without being ‘Frank Lampard’ I suspect there would be much more positivity. He has shown he is a manager who wants to play exciting football and wants to work with young players. However, he is Frank Lampard, and he has a higher profile than Norwich so while he is around it will be ‘Frank Lampard’s Norwich City’ every game will be about ‘Frank Lampard vs XXX’, the camera will cut to his celebrity wife sitting with Delia and reports of her being sighted in Jarrolds will make the pages of the EDP.
Many fans don’t like the ridiculous media circus that surrounds football, and being a Norwich fan it is largely possible to avoid all of this — to feel superior to it all. Lampard will drag Norwich firmly into the centre of the circus.
Is it a good move?
Maybe. Possibly. It is a bold move for Webber, it would be easier to stick to his MO and pick a relative unknown from Europe and satisfy the purists. This is a bold move disguised as an obvious one. Hopefully, Lampard can show that he is the promising young manager that there is evidence of, he could also turn out to be an underwhelming pick who has traded off his famous name and football friends.
To learn more about Lampard the manager I’d recommend;
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