Frank Lampard feels the foundations crumbling as Chelsea flounder

Of all the tributes that flooded in when Frank Lampard retired as a player in 2017, there was one that stood out, getting straight to the heart of who he was, what had made him so successful. “You were the best trainer by a million miles every single day,” said John Terry, his longtime Chelsea and England teammate.

“You stayed out, working on your finishing. I will miss you getting four cones and doing sprints – setting the example for the academy kids.”

Lampard has plenty on his plate at present, almost too many problems to list, and they have conspired to make his return to Chelsea as the interim manager a frustrating experience. It is now six defeats out of six, the latest being the 3-1 at Arsenal on Tuesday night; not since Glenn Hoddle lost six on the spin in 1993 have the club endured such a run.

Where to start? The season is dead, nothing to chase in terms of meaningful league positions, and the players know it. Lampard is merely keeping the seat warm for the next permanent manager and the players know it. The squad is bloated and unbalanced, set for a high-stress overhaul, and a significant number of the 30-plus are unclear as to what the future holds. In the vacuum, they are weighing up their options.

Where Lampard started as he raked over it all in the wake of the Arsenal result (and wake was the operative word) was with the fundamentals, those that fired him as a player, upon which he would always fall back. They are hard work and mental toughness, the innate desire to prove his worth – and others wrong.

When he looks around him at the shambles Chelsea have become this season, he cannot make a harsher criticism than to suggest this foundation has crumbled.

At Arsenal, what drove Lampard to distraction during