Thomas Tuchel told Frank Lampard’s fingerprints still on Chelsea ahead of FA Cup final

Chelsea: Tuchel confident of coping with FA Cup final pressure

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Frank Lampard will deserve some of the credit if Chelsea win the FA Cup and Champions League final this month, according to Joe Cole. Lampard was sacked and replaced by Thomas Tuchel in January but Cole believes his fingerprints remain on the Blues side.

Chelsea face Leicester City in the FA Cup final tomorrow after overcoming Morecambe, Luton, Barnsley, Sheffield United and Manchester City on the road to Wembley.

Lampard was sacked on January 26, two days after the Blues’ 3-1 win over Luton in the fourth round of the competition.

Tuchel was installed as his replacement and the former Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain manager immediately turned around the club’s fortunes.

Having lost five of their last 10 matches under Lampard, Chelsea have been defeated in just three of their 26 games under Tuchel’s management.

The German boss has led them to two cup finals, with the Champions League final against Man City scheduled for May 29 in Porto, while the Blues remain in the top four, despite their 1-0 defeat by Arsenal on Wednesday.

Lampard failed to win a trophy during his 18-month spell as Chelsea manager, but his former team-mate Cole believes his influence should not be underestimated.

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“I am friends with Frank and I’ve known him since I was a kid so you don’t want to become a cheerleader,” Cole told the Daily Mail.

“Tuchel has come in and done an unbelievable job but you can’t disregard what Frank did – holding the fort during a difficult time, getting the club to a cup final last year, getting Champions League when they had lost their best player [Eden Hazard in 2019].

“He brought in many of these young players in and put £200million of talent on the bottom line. They were going through a bad spell earlier in the season and that’s Chelsea – you know if you go through a bad spell you could get the sack.

“Frank’s fingerprints will be on this team but you have to credit Tuchel – to come in and have the impact he’s had is extraordinary.

“Chelsea is in a really healthy place at the moment so I am very happy, very confident.”

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Lampard remains without a job since his departure from Stamford Bridge, but the 42-year-old could be set for a return to management over the summer.

According to the Telegraph, he is the frontrunner for the Crystal Palace job, should Roy Hodgson leave the club when his contract expires at the end of the season.

Cole has previously worked as an academy coach at Chelsea and while he is enjoying his role as a pundit for BT Sport, he says he still hopes to pursue a career in management.

“You are always looking and will have to be the right job at the right time,” he said.

“It’s been beneficial for me to see how my former team-mates have done and see the pitfalls.

“I am enjoying my work as a pundit but when the time’s right and it’s the right job, I’ll certainly be stepping up.”

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