Frank Lampard’s inexperience glares with Chelsea lost for ideas

In a second half that demanded – needed – some kind of action, Frank Lampard could only look on. What he saw was indeed a team that looked cohesive, superbly coached and, at times, yes, like over £250m worth of talent.

The problem for Lampard was that it was Leicester City, rather than his own disparate and disconnected bunch. In a showdown between one of the most astute clubs in the market and one of the most free-spending, Brendan Rodgers showed Lampard how to really get value for money. The only surprise was that his side didn’t get more goals.

That’s how bad it was getting for Chelsea on the night, and how bad it is getting for Lampard in general.

The question is no longer what went wrong. That is being asked almost every week. The issues remain the same. After 18 months, the defence is in chaos, and the attack lacks any kind of integration or spark. Players look like they’re losing more and more confidence.

No, the primary question was that big one that eventually always crops up for every Chelsea manager, but has come so alarmingly quick for one of their greatest players. How long? How much time will Roman Abramovich’s hierarchy give Lampard?

This is getting harder for his decreasing defenders at the club to justify. It isn’t impossible Chelsea act soon.

But a deeper question in all of this is how Lampard himself can act. Even if Chelsea do afford him the time that they actually give more than is often thought, what is there to suggest that the manager can actually turn it around?

That is a more troubling thought for the club, that reflects the reality they ultimately appointed a rookie.

There is always a broader issue there in that any young manager doesn’t have the experience of problems to fall back on when things start to go wrong, something that is only amplified – and often reaches crisis point – at a big club. That’s why they are such tough jobs.

It’s rarely just a case of facilitating more expensive players, as Lampard has emphatically proven this season. It would only be natural they start to doubt their approach, their beliefs.

But this is another question with Lampard. What are his beliefs? What is he trying to do with this team? It is increasingly difficult to say.

He hasn’t yet responded to any of these setbacks well. The defence has got worse. The attack never clicks. Good players have lost all confidence. Look at Timo Werner.

It sounds brutal, but there have been times over the last few games when it has looked like Chelsea aren’t being coached or managed at all. They’re just going out, to almost inevitable defeat any time they face a side anywhere close to their level.

Leicester, by rights, should be way off their level. Just as in 2016, though, they can offer many lessons to Chelsea.

Chilwell, through no fault of his own, regularly helps illustrate the problems at Chelsea because the ball finds itself going towards him so often. It is as if the side have no other ideas. Just get it out to the wing.

You couldn’t say that of Leicester. They have so many ideas, so much movement. That is an inevitable conclusion of something else.

Just as the current side are the result of so much work and intelligence, so is Rodgers’s career. There is an important contrast with Lampard here.

Rodgers’s first big job, and his most famous, was actually his fourth. He had already worked at Watford, Reading and Swansea City before Liverpool, getting to hone his ideas, often learning the hard way but without the same consequence. Natural progress.

Lampard has had none of that. It shows. It shows in the way the teams play, and ultimately this result. It may well lead to another inevitable conclusion for Chelsea. If so, perhaps Rodgers is the manager they should go for.

It’s just that right now, things look so much better for him where he is. Lampard could only look on at the results of that on Tuesday night. His side were 2-0 down and adrift in mid-table, as Leicester went top. It may demand action.