Frank Lampard has just taken his press conference after a very disappointing result against Manchester City, and with not much to discuss from a sleepy game his side never really competed in, save for a few minutes in either half, the discussion inevitably became about more long term issues.
Lampard was asked to predict “the future” for this squad, and he basically decided to point to the players and say it was up to them. He has avoided criticising individual performances or effort levels overall, probably because he knows it’s the fastest way to turn the group against him, but today he wasn’t afraid to basically say that the club will only ever be as good as they can be bothered to make it:
“I can’t predict [the future]. It’s down to the players, for the club it will be down to the direction taken forward and the new coach. To get to where Manchester City are, a lot of work needs to align. Every player has to work to see if we can get back to where we need to be.”
All we can hope for is that a new coach is able to motivate this group in a new way. Thomas Tuchel, Frank Lampard and Graham Potter have all struggled to do that in the last 12 months. The thinning out of the less motivated players from the squad will help – but it will take more than just that.