West Ham can forget Lampard & Potter by hiring “incredible” UCL finalist

After the first of three international breaks before Christmas, the Premier League is finally back this weekend.

West Ham United are set to take on London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, who, aside from the last game against Bournemouth, have looked good under new manager Thomas Frank.

The Hammers, on the other hand, have looked terrible in three of their four games this season, and as a result, there is considerable pressure on Graham Potter.

One of the men who has been linked with the job is Frank Lampard, but if West Ham really want to improve, they should consider another young manager with a more impressive CV.

Lampard’s Premier League record

It should be noted that with two wins and two draws to his name this season, Lampard appears to be doing a decent enough job with Coventry City.

However, challenging for the play-off spots in the Championship is a very different task to getting the most out of a side in the Premier League, and unfortunately, the 47-year-old has not done particularly well in the top-flight.

For example, while he had a decent first season in charge of Chelsea, in which he led them to a fourth-place finish, he struggled to replicate that success in his second campaign and was eventually fired in January, with the side in ninth place.

Moreover, Thomas Tuchel, who was brought in to replace him, then led the team to Champions League glory the same season, suggesting the problems were not with the squad.

He found his way to the Everton dugout a year later, and once again, while he managed to succeed in his first season, keeping the club up with a final-day win, he was sacked the following year during a run in which the team won one game in 12.

Now, it has been over two years since he last took a job in the Premier League, and there is every chance he’s improved as a manager. Still, given the feeling around the club and the stature of the job, it feels like hiring Lampard would be a terrible decision by West Ham.

Especially when there is another manager on the market who has a much more impressive CV.

The manager West Ham should hire instead of Lampard

While there are several managers on the market at the moment, from Marco Rose to Xavi, West Ham should be looking to hire Edin Terzić.

The former Borussia Dortmund coach is the perfect combination of someone young and, therefore, willing to help build up a project, while also already having some impressive experience.

Moreover, before becoming a head coach, he spent four years as Slaven Bilić’s assistant, two of which were spent at West Ham, helping the Croatian achieve some impressive victories, including one away to Liverpool and another against Manchester City.

However, it was when the German was appointed as Dortmund’s interim manager from December 2020 to June 2021 following the departure of Lucien Favre, that he first started to turn heads around Europe.

Of the 32 games he oversaw, the team won 20, drew four, and lost just eight; moreover, they produced a healthy goal difference and won the DFB Pokal, which would be impressive for any seasoned coach.

He was once again appointed as manager following Rose’s departure at the end of the 21/22 season, but permanently this time, and rather surprisingly, led the club on a title charge that saw them lose out to Bayern Munich on the final day due to goal difference.

As if that wasn’t enough, the 42-year-old was able to gather his side, and on top of securing Champions League qualification the following season, he also led the team to their first final in the competition since 2013, losing by 2-0 despite looking the better side for much of the game.

In all, the “incredible” German, as dubbed by former Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke, has overseen 128 matches in his managerial career, winning 75, drawing 24 and losing just 29, which comes out to a points per game average of 1.95, compared to Lampard’s 1.51 and Potter’s 1.50.

Ultimately, while there is always a risk in changing managers, Terzic proved he has what it takes to lead big clubs during his time at Dortmund, and as things are going so poorly at the moment, West Ham should take the risk and bring him in.