Match of the Day pundit Danny Murphy has urged Chelsea to be patient with Frank Lampard.
Lampard appears to be teetering on the edge following a disappointing run of results which has seen Chelsea win just one and lose four of their last six games.
That's despite Chelsea forking out more than £200million in the summer to improve their squad, adding significant strength to the squad but equally, significant pressure on Lampard to succeed.
It looked as though he and the Blues just might succeed after an impressive start to the season, but they have since suffered a disappointing spell which continued with a 3-1 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday when they conceded all three goals in the first half.
Some are now calling for Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich to pull the trigger and sack Lampard, but Match of the Day pundit Murphy has urged him not to, citing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who has turned things around at Manchester United, and Mikel Arteta, who has enjoyed a resurgence of late with Arsenal, as examples of what happens when owners are patient.
Asked if Lampard knows his best starting XI, Murphy responded: "I think he does.
"I think he has been unlucky with some injuries but he will get them there. Don’t do anything silly, Chelsea, like they have done in the past.
"We have seen with Arteta and Ole, things can improve, just be patient."
While Murphy defended Lampard, he did not defend Chelsea's performance against Manchester City, saying: "You can always applaud brilliance, but when you have top-quality players, you will be nit-picking and looking at where you can do better.
"Yes, they were more fatigued, and they have rotated players and have been struggling, but I didn’t see a Chelsea side at it. I didn’t see them pressing like in their good run.
"They gave them too much space. The two centre-halves were miles apart. I don’t know if that is fatigue but Frank won’t be watching this back and enjoying it.
"Little details and basics. Frank spoke about it in his interview, to be fair. Frank will be disappointed with the basics that didn’t happen in that first half."
