Frank Lampard could do little else but scowl. His Chelsea side were being picked apart by Leicester City. And with every attack from the home side, the pressure on the Blues head coach increased.
Lampard’s future has been the subject of much speciation in recent weeks. His side’s form has capitulated since the beginning of December – Chelsea have won just two of their last eight Premier League games.
At the halfway point of the top-flight campaign, the Blues sit eighth in the table. They could fall even further if Aston Villa and Southampton win their games in hand. Several Chelsea head coaches have been sacked for far less.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way after a summer of huge investment. The likes of Timo Werner and Kai Havertz were meant to help Lampard’s side take the step from top-four contenders to title challengers.
That both Germans have struggled at Stamford Bridge has hurt Lampard. But the Blues head coach hasn’t found a system which brings the best out of either player. That was again evident at the King Power.
With N’Golo Kante ruled out due to injury, Lampard gambled with his midfield. Mateo Kovacic was deployed as the number six, a role he is ill-suited to in truth. But the alternatives were Jorginho, who struggled against Fulham, and the inexperienced Billy Gilmour.
How Lampard must wish he had Declan Rice to call on. The West Ham United star was wanted by the Blues head coach in the summer but the club opted to spend big on Havertz.
The German, who cost £70 million, was used as a hybrid number eight and ten but didn’t influence the contest. Passes were underhit, possession was lost too easily.
Havertz is an undoubted talent, he will come good at Chelsea in time. But there was little surprise to see him brought off with the best part of 25 minutes to play. He hasn’t started and completed a Premier League game since October.
As Havertz went off, Werner came on. The 24-year-old had scored only once in his 14 previous matches. Make that once in 15.
At RB Leipzig, for whom he netted 34 times last season, Werner was used in a two-man attack And he was finally given that chance by Lampard, joining Tammy Abraham upfront.
Yet there was no cohesion between the pair; it was a plan formed in desperation. Werner's only chance came from a set-piece, he found the back of the net but the goal was ruled out for VAR for offside. It was a tight call but the right call.
The fine margins, they went against Chelsea at the King Power. A first-half penalty earned by Christian Pulisic was also changed to a free-kick by VAR. But luck wasn't the reason the Blues were beaten.
Leicester were simply far better coached. Every player on the pitch knew their job, they knew exactly where they were meant to be and what to do. Chelsea, by contrast, were a mess.
That hasn't always been the case. Last season, Lampard found answers to problems. And at the beginning of the campaign, he appeared to have found a way forward. That Chelsea's unraveled so quickly suggests individuals paved over structural cracks.
Lampard is a Chelsea legend. Nothing can change that. He played instrumental roles in the club’s biggest successes and is a pillar around which the modern-day club was built. But that status doesn’t protect him.
It was after a pitiful showing at the King Power that Jose Mourinho, another major player in the Blues’ recent history, was dispensed with in 2015. Lampard can only hope history doesn’t repeat itself.
