Forget Frank Lampard: What West Ham need from their next manager is as clear as dayplaceholder image
Forget Frank Lampard: What West Ham need from their next manager is as clear as day | Getty Images
Stories suggest that West Ham could make Frank Lampard their next manager - but is he really what they need?
It’s not yet clear whether West Ham United’s 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest prior to the international break was the moment that Graham Potter’s reign found its spark or simply a stay of execution – but as it stands, Potter remains one of the favourites to be the first manager sacked in the Premier League this season.
One of the inevitable results of all the pressure on his position is a steady stream of speculation as to his potential successor, and a new story being carried by outlets including Football Insider even alleges that the club have “sounded out” former player Frank Lampard, currently in charge of Coventry City.
If Potter does fail to keep his job, however, would Lampard make sense as his replacement? And what is it that West Ham really need to get back to their best?
West Ham appointing Frank Lampard wouldn’t be completely crazy – but that doesn’t make it right
When Lampard was appointed as the new Coventry City manager last November, the general reaction was bafflement. This was, after all, a coach who had looked entirely out of his depth at both Chelsea and Everton.
Those who doubted the 47-year-old – a majority, most likely – have been left eating their own words, however. Lampard took Coventry from the edges of a relegation battle all the way up to the Championship play-offs and he was denied the chance to manage at Wembley for a third time only by a late, late Sunderland goal in the semi-finals.
Coventry seem to have maintained their momentum, too. Four matches into the new campaign, they sit fifth in the second tier, are unbeaten and have scored 12 goals in their last two games. Lampard’s stock is starting to rise once more.
There is a sense that Lampard has started to find ways to inculcate the attributes which made him such a successful player into those he now coaches. Former Coventry players including Stuart Pearce and Steve Ogrizovic have praised the professional attitude he has instilled in his team, while he buccaneering and highly productive midfield certainly has a familiar feel.
Lampard has never come across as an especially deep tactical thinker, admittedly, and there is perhaps a reason that he has enjoyed success with younger, less starry squads in the Championship and then struggled to handle the inflated egos of the top flight. It isn’t clear that his managerial style washes very well with established stars.
Or, perhaps, he’s figured some things out about how to be a more effective manager and we’re now seeing the fruits of his own work towards self-improvement. Lampard has never been anything if not a grafter who worked hard at himself, and that could be paying slightly belated dividends.
Still, while there is a growing body of evidence that Lampard may be a better manager than had previously been appreciated, West Ham would still be taking a considerable gamble by appointing him and his association with the club from his playing days would buy him little credit with the fanbase. Whether the Hammers’ board are seriously considering it or not is unclear.
What West Ham really need from their next manager
One of the biggest strikes against the notion of making Lampard the next West Ham coach is that while he has greatly improved his Coventry side, he has yet to work out how to build a disciplined defence.
With Coventry, he has created a team that is impressive in attack but still somewhat shaky at the back, as a recent 5-3 win over Derby County aptly demonstrated. They may have reached the play-offs last season, but still conceded more goals than all but one other team in the top half of the Championship table.
With West Ham, he would be taking charge of a team that is sorely lacking steel and stability in defence – they conceded 62 goals last season, more than all but five teams in the top flight, and have the worst defensive record of the early Premier League campaign this time around – and which is also lacking flair and attacking prowess going forward, with the sale of Mohammed Kudus leaving the Hammers grossly over-reliant on Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paquetá for goals.
What West Ham need likely isn’t Lampard, but a coach who can drill a defence into shape and find routes to goal with limited resources. Frankly, what they probably need – at least until they can improve their work in the transfer market – is David Moyes. That’s one bridge that has been comprehensively burned.
One could make an argument for Edin Terzic, even if his success in taking Borussia Dortmund to the Champions League final papered over plenty of cracks. Perhaps former Belgium head coach Domenico Tedesco would fit the bill with his disciplined style. And dare one even mention Sean Dyche?
But perhaps what West Ham really need to do is to take stock of their failures in recruitment, which have left them with an imbalanced squad which lacks creativity and threat in the final third without having the defensive rigidity to win anyway. Potter has not convinced as their coach, but he is perhaps working with one hand tied behind his back.
In any case, Potter has always been a coach who takes time to get things ticking. That was the case at Brighton & Hove Albion, certainly, and while his inability to inculcate his style of play quickly is undeniably a weakness, he has generally succeeded when given the time required.
There is plenty in the cons column next to Potter’s name. His teams have generally struggled to score as many goals as they should, and there is a sense that his possession-based methodology isn’t as effective as it once was in the era of the organised high press. But it only makes sense to give him as much time as possible, else it made no sense to appoint him in the first place. Certainly, jumping ship to a wildcard like Lampard would be a pretty risky shot in the dark.
Continue Reading