Former Blue Craig Burley thinks Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers would be the best appointment Chelsea could make if they decided to cut ties with Frank Lampard.
Lampard may feel he deserves more time to continue his project at Stamford Bridge, but it is fair to say he is skating on thin ice at the moment.
There have been reports claiming Chelsea have prepared a list of potential new managers behind the scenes, including from The Athletic who mentioned Massimiliano Allegri, Thomas Tuchel and Brendan Rodgers as possible replacements.
According to Burley, if Lampard loses his job, Rodgers would be the ideal successor from those three names.
“Allegri is known for pragmatism. There is nothing wrong with that, but Abramovich has always tried to get away from that. He had enough of it under [Jose] Mourinho,” Burley told ESPN FC.
“I’m not a Thomas Tuchel fan. He’s done a decent job at [Borussia] Dortmund and PSG but I’m not on the Thomas Tuchel train.
“I look at Brendan Rodgers as, at least, the third best coach in the Premier League.
“Is there anybody better [except Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola]? No, not even close.”
Burley highlighted Rodgers’ track record at Leicester City, Celtic and even the Liverpool side that were so close to winning the league.
“He’s [also] worked at Chelsea before with the younger kids,” he added.
“Would Rodgers have more understanding of what he wants [with the Chelsea squad] because of his experience [compared to Lampard]? Yes, he would.”
Chronicle view
Rodgers’ familiarity with the Premier League would of course give him the edge over Tuchel and Allegri.
He is, however, still under a long-term contract at Leicester (until 2025) which he signed in December 2019.
Compared to Tuchel and Allegri, who are currently available for free, appointing Rodgers would cost significantly more.
He also seems to be building a very good project at Leicester, who are currently fighting for the title.
Then again, Abramovich might be willing to give Lampard time to turn the situation around and, hopefully, he does.
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