FILE PHOTO:Soccer Football - Premier League - Chelsea v Newcastle United - Stamford Bridge, London, Britain - May 28, 2023 Chelsea manager Frank Lampard applauds fans during the lap of appreciation after the match REUTERS/Chris Radburn/File Photo
(Reuters) - Former Chelsea manager Frank Lampard said the Premier League club's struggles this season have not taken him by surprise.
Former Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino took over at Chelsea in July after they finished 12th the previous season, during which Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Lampard were in charge at various points in the campaign.
Pochettino's expensively assembled team are 11th this season after taking just eight points from seven matches.
"I'm not completely surprised at some of the difficulties. I think having lived it first-hand at the end of the season," Lampard told Sky Sports on Monday.
"Top managers – in Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter. So I think you could see – I felt I could see some of the issues there which was confidence from results."
Lampard, Chelsea's all-time leading scorer having played for the club between 2001–2014, said he had expected the club to have won more points but "never felt it would be an instant turnaround" under Pochettino.
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
