Former Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien, who played alongside current Blues manager Frank Lampard for almost a decade, has said he never imagined his ex-teammate would go into management.
Lampard took the reins at Stamford Bridge in July 2019 and has since led the Blues to a top four finish despite being unable to sign players initially, and his performance at the helm has been praised by Essien on talkSPORT. The Ghanaian said: “He (Lampard) was one of the leaders. I didn’t really see that he would end up becoming a manager. Knowing Frank, he’s very quiet and calm and does his thing.”
Asked if he had been impressed by the job done by his former midfield partner, the 37-year-old said: “Yes because Chelsea is not an easy place to go as a manager or player. His first year he was not allowed to make a lot of signings, but he still managed to do well. It’s a big credit to him and hopefully, they will do even better this season.”
Essien played 265 times for Chelsea and was a driving force in a successful era for the club. The Ghanaian is now moving into coaching himself, having accepted a role on the coaching staff at FC Nordsjælland in the Danish Superliga.
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Obviously, Essien’s eye for a future manager wasn’t as finely tuned as his eye for a well-timed tackle back in his Chelsea days.
Lampard’s managerial prowess runs in the family, after all, not to mention the leadership he showed throughout his playing days at the Bridge alongside John Terry, another who is making his steps in the coaching world as current assistant boss at Aston Villa.
