Frank Lampard ‘skipped steps to learn how to manage a big club – and wasn’t ready’, says Jorginho

Jorginho has taken a swipe at former manager Frank Lampard, claiming his legendary status at Chelsea helped him jump the queue and land a job he was not ready for.

Lampard was appointed Chelsea manager ahead of last season, having had one year as a manager at Championship Derby.

He lasted 18 months in the Chelsea hotseat, being sacked in January and replaced by Thomas Tuchel.

Chelsea’s Jorginho has given a scathing assessment of Frank Lampard’s management skills 

He said he felt that the former Blues boss lacked ‘experience’ and that he was ‘was not ready’

Lampard, Chelsea’s all-time record scorer, overcame a transfer ban and the loss of key man Eden Hazard to steer Chelsea to a top-four finish and the FA Cup final in his first campaign.

But despite spending over £200m last summer, Chelsea were only ninth in the Premier League when Lampard lost his job due to results and performances that were not up to the standard demanded by Chelsea’s hierarchy.

Jorginho told ESPN Brasil: ‘Look, I’ll be really sincere here on Lampard. I believe, given he was a legend at the club, he skipped some steps necessary for learning before moving to a big club.

‘He came to a club where he is a legend, without having experience at other clubs. I think he came too soon, skipped a few steps ahead and wasn’t ready for a job at this level, to be honest.’

Meanwhile, Tuchel has offered hope to Tammy Abraham that he could return to the fold today after his fall down the Chelsea pecking order.

He said Lampard was only appointed as the manager because he was a ‘legend of the club’ 

He also said that Lampard ‘skipped some steps that you need to learn to reach a great team’

Abraham has started just four games under Tuchel, coming off at half-time in two of them and injury forcing him off after just 20 minutes in another.

His last start and appearance was back in February with an ankle injury contributing to his absence though he remains Chelsea’s top scorer.

Abraham has failed to even make the bench for Chelsea’s last two games, casting major doubt over his Stamford Bridge future.

Asked if Abraham could feature against West Ham, Tuchel said: ‘Absolutely, and everybody has.

‘And the big advantage is that as a striker you always have the chance to change things around in one or two minutes.

He was sacked in January and replaced by ex-Borussia Dortmund manager Thomas Tuchel

‘Sometimes you come in late, you score a decisive goal and you change the whole momentum. This is far easier, even if he does not feel it right now, far easier situation to transform things around than for example for Kepa [who has played the last two games] or even for defenders when you normally never have the genuine possibility to come on to a match after 75, 70 minutes.

‘Normally that only happens for an injury or maybe for reasons of overload. But as a striker you always have the chance.

‘He has struggled for several reasons. One is my decisions of course. He was a bit unlucky, he was injured, we talked about it.

‘He struggled a bit to accept the situation and he struggled a bit finding the solution to the situation, to be a bit stuck between his demands to himself, and his expectations about his role, the role he was suddenly in.

‘But now I have the feeling that he is found the way to cope with it, which I am very happy about.

‘He produced very good training sessions now in a row. This was the first step and he has a high chance to be in the squad.’