- Lampard appointed Chelsea interim boss
- Blues looking at Nagelsmann as permanent coach
- Keys thinks it's because "he rides a skateboard"
WHAT HAPPENED? The German heads a list of potential candidates which ranges from Champions League winner Luis Enrique to European newcomer Marcelo Gallardo. Lampard, meanwhile, was installed by the Chelsea hierarchy while their hunt for Graham Potter's replacement goes on - but pundit Keys can't understand why his appointment is only on an interim basis.
WHAT THEY SAID: "One of the candidates is Julian Nagelsmann. What has he got that the Chelsea legend that is Frank Lampard has not?" the pundit said on beIN SPORTS ahead of the Blues' meeting with Brighton on Saturday. "A guy that knows the club inside out, a guy that Chelsea fans think the world of. What has Nagelsmann done? Okay, he's won the Bundesliga, but he'd be hard pushed not to as Bayern Munich coach, but nothing else. So what makes him preferible? Is it because he's German? Young? Rides a skateboard?"
Co-pundit Andy Gray echoed Keys' baffling thoughts, replying: "What makes Nagelsmann better, I don't know. Modern day owners of English Premier League clubs have a fixation with a foreign name, a foreign coach, that they would be better and be better equipped. [That they] bring a brand of football that we can't produce [with] British coaches, which is a nonsense. But there can be no other reason that Nagelsmann should be rated higher than Frank. Yes, he's won a Bundesliga title, but you're right, you'd be hard pushed not to with Bayern Munich."
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Of course, the comments of Keys and Gray fail to acknowledge the tactical nous of Nagelsmann which saw him thrive at Hoffenheim before taking RB Leipzig to the Champions League semi-finals, DFB Pokal final and runners up in the Bundesliga - feats not managed since his tenure. He then masterminded an unbeaten Champions League run with Bayern this campaign with just two goals conceded.
Lampard, meanwhile, kept Chelsea on the brink of Champions League qualification, while dragging Everton into a relegation battle this term before being dismissed.
Next Match
AND WHAT'S MORE: The comments about English coaches also fails to recognise the fact that no manager from Keys' home nation has ever won a Premier League title, with Graham Potter himself dismissed after just seven months at the helm of Chelsea. Indeed, comments to beIN's post on Twitter reflected the ludicrousness of such opinions, with Keys labelled a "clown" and "way beyond delusional", while the punditry was labelled as "garbage".
IN TWO PHOTOS:
Getty/GOAL
GettyWHAT NEXT? Chelsea's match against Brighton will be followed by a quarter-final return leg against Champions League holders Real Madrid, where Lampard's side face the unenviable task of overturning a 2-0 deficit.