A year ago
Lampard has lost all five games since temporarily replacing Graham Potter at Stamford Bridge, failing to turn around an alarming run of bad luck.
Since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital acquired ownership and authorized a massive spending binge, Chelsea has only managed to score one goal—a deflected Conor Gallagher strike in the 2-1 loss to Brighton—and conceded nine. This dismal state of affairs sums up the club's performance in that period.
Chelsea's lack of presence up front has been one of their key problems. Although many would argue that Kai Havertz is not naturally a center forward, he has played there for the majority of the season because Armando Broja, his backup, has been injured.
Raheem Sterling and Joao Felix have both filled in during their time on loan from Atletico Madrid, but neither player is a natural in that position and would like to move inside from wide areas.
Aubameyang has been on the club's books since September, yet all of this has happened. The 33-year-old was the penultimate acquisition of the Thomas Tuchel era and came to Chelsea from Barcelona right before the summer 2022 transfer window closed.
Even though their previous work together was a major factor in Aubameyang's hiring, the German was fired from his position a week after he arrived. The former Arsenal captain was frozen out under Potter and left off the team that represented the club in the Champions League, but Lampard's recent comments imply that more playing time might be forthcoming.
"With Auba, in a short period, it's been hard for me to gauge that [physical level] but when you see him come on against Brentford you see the different feeling of the team," remarked Lampard of Aubameyang.
So I believe one thing is for certain, as I previously stated, he is a very high-level player, but obviously in a scenario where he is perhaps not at his most rested.