It was Carlo Ancelotti who wanted to break ‘the untouchable’ culture first fostered by Jose Mourinho at Chelsea that Frank Lampard was very much a part of.
When Ancelotti arrived at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2009, his plan was to rotate the squad and break up Mourinho’s group of players who could be guaranteed their places.
Legend has it that when news filtered through to the dressing-room that Lampard was going to be rested for one of Ancelotti’s early games, Ray Wilkins was dispatched to inform the Italian that the midfielder should start.
Ancelotti relented and Lampard responded by enjoying his best goalscoring season for the Blues, netting 27 times in a total of 51 appearances, as Chelsea won a League and FA Cup double.
Lampard had indeed proved himself to be ‘untouchable’ at that stage and yet it appears the term does not enter his coaching vocabulary, having displayed a ruthless streak that has helped to shape a first season in charge of Chelsea that has exceeded all expectations.
With Champions League qualification secured, Lampard can claim his first trophy since moving into management by leading Chelsea to victory in Saturday’s FA Cup final against Arsenal but he has not chosen the easy path during his opening 12 months in charge.
Perhaps it helped that Roman Abramovich had been in attendance to witness the performance with his own eyes, but it is exactly a year since Lampard first signalled his ruthless streak as Chelsea head coach.
The Blues were in Salzburg, where owner Abramovich was a surprise spectator, for their penultimate pre-season friendly. Lampard’s team won 5-3, but it proved to be the Brazilian’s final appearance for the club.
Following an error-strewn performance, Luiz was relegated to the bench for the final friendly against Borussia Monchengladback on August 3 and five days later the centre back had been sold to Arsenal after spending his final day with the Blues training on his own.
