Apparently for some here any team that is doing better than us are doing that only because they have better players. Before the season started the majority expected Chelsea to finish 6th at best. Now that they are around top 4 with 1 point or GD suddenly they started to have a better squad. It's like people are avoiding the direct comparison between both managers.
During Mourinho days people here were saying inferior teams are playing better football than us with worse players because they have good managers. Now every team who plays better than us have better players.
Consistency.
Lampard has been doing a marvelous job there so far and with this rate he can be a top manager in the making.
I agree with you, I don’t think that Chelsea have a particularly better group of players than United. Fairly even, I would say, after Chelsea’s ban/Hazard loss, and Woodward’s transfer window weakened both teams.
I am fascinated by the comparison of managers, tbh, the arguments pro and against both have many similarities.
One think that is challenging, is deciding what to compare: If there is a honey moon period to be had from an old club hero coming in and a dividing figure leaving, Lampard surely is in his now. So should we compare it to Solskjaers first twenty games? Will it then be more interesting to compare the teams in March, and see their trajectories over some more time?
Another point is that Lampard has taken over a well functioning team already much closer to his preferred style and philosophy (judging on his Derby stint), so what they learnt under Sarri will not go to waste. Solskjær took over a mess that did not play like his teams prefer (based on his Molde teams) and wasn’t trained for it either. He will have to build more from scratch (if he’s able to, which of course is what the jury is quarrelling about). So should we rather compare the coming February version of his United team with Chelsea, when relations in the team and playing style should be falling more into place?
So far, Solskjær has had the best start as a manager, Lampard has had the best start of the season, Solskjær has had most trouble with injuries, Lampard has been able to more clearly retain/implement a recognizable pattern of attacking play in his team.
Will be interesting to see the coming months and the months after that.