Lampard could see the issues in player development coming over 12 months ago as he spoke about how the young players who arrive do not have enough time to adapt to the club and the intensity of the Premier League.
"You have to be very careful to point fingers at the manager himself or point fingers at young players that are trying to find form in a team that hasn't really got an experienced spine there that they can rely on and look up to," he said.
"The strategy has been to bring in young players. You've got young kids coming over at 21 from another country, trying to fit into a team now. I'm not saying 'in my day', but in my day, when you bring in those younger players, they sit themselves on the bench, or they train alongside and watch how competitive it is in training. Watching (Didier) Drogba and how he trains. John Terry and how he leads the club.
He explained that it is impossible to ask young players who are often from other countries to slide into a team like Chelsea who have such high ambitions. The former England midfielder sympathized with those who come in at a young age and feel so much pressure to perform.
"And they )the young players) learn and then they get into the team, or they don't and they don't come through at Chelsea. To ask a lot of players to do that at the same time and develop is not an easy thing. I think we've got to be very careful.
"The strategy will, of course, be questioned and there probably will have been things that have been done that you can look at now that have been done and think, 'Could it have been different?' Yes. It's getting it right now and changing it but it's going to be a process."
This season sees Levi Colwill, a 21-year-old and a starting center-back with no obvious leader around him. Cole Palmer is the leader of the team and is only 22 years old, whilst the likes of Noni Madueke, Malo Gusto, Filip Jorgensen, Tyrique George, and many other first team players are under 23 years old.
Defender Tosin Adarabioyo is nicknamed 'Uncle' by some in the squad and he is only 27 which is a perfect example of how the squad is imbalanced and is without the leaders necessary to act as role models at the club. Lampard’s warning was ignored by the club and now it seems that Maresca is feeling the effects.
The club sit 6th in the league after a 3-0 loss to Brighton at the weekend, they are out of both domestic cups and their only hope of silverware is the Conference League. The likes of Lampard feel the transfer strategy needs to change before the average age of the squad is lowered any further which may lead to even further disappointment.