Tag: Frank Lampard

  • Chelsea Fires Frank Lampard

    Chelsea Fires Frank Lampard

    Chelsea Football Club have parted company with Head Coach Frank Lampard.

    The club, in a statement, said:

    “This has been a very difficult decision, and not one that the owner and the Board have taken lightly.

    “We are grateful to Frank for what he has achieved in his time as Head Coach of the Club. However, recent results and performances have not met the Club’s expectations, leaving the Club mid-table without any clear path to sustained improvement.

    “There can never be a good time to part ways with a club legend such as Frank, but after lengthy deliberation and consideration it was decided a change is needed now to give the Club time to improve performances and results this season.

    Owner, Roman Abramovich said:

    “This was a very difficult decision for the Club, not least because I have an excellent personal relationship with Frank and I have the utmost respect for him’.

    “He is a man of great integrity and has the highest of work ethics. However, under current circumstances we believe it is best to change managers.

    “On behalf of everyone at the Club, the Board and personally, I would like to thank Frank for his work as Head Coach and wish him every success in the future. He is an important icon of this great club and his status here remains undiminished. He will always be warmly welcomed back at Stamford Bridge.”

    “The Club will be making no further comment until such time as a new Head Coach is appointed.”

  • Frank Lampard explains Chelsea’s approach to the January transfer window

    Frank Lampard explains Chelsea’s approach to the January transfer window

    Frank Lampard says Chelsea won’t be ‘jumping up and down’ to do lots of business in the January transfer window and admitted he will be looking at opportunities to trim his bloated squad.

    The Chelsea manager insists his primary focus will be on working with his current players but wouldn’t rule out the club strengthening in ‘the right way’.

    Chelsea splashed more than £250million on transfers this summer but currently find themselves outside the coveted Champions League spots in sixth.

    They are, however, just three points behind fourth-placed Everton, with the top half of the table incredibly tight.

    And Lampard is keen to make sure his new arrivals and young players continue their development in order to make sure Chelsea qualify for the Champions League again next season.

    READ ALSO: New Year: Buhari To Address Nigerians On January 1

    ‘I’m not absolutely sure yet, to be honest,’ Lampard said of Chelsea’s transfer window plans.

    ‘I have ideas. We have a big squad, we’ll have to see if that changes, if there are opportunities for players that aren’t playing so much. That will be a conversation between player, club and myself.

    ‘And then we’ll see if we feel we can strengthen in the right way. ‘But we’re not jumping up and down to do so.

    ‘My focus this year is purely on work because we have new players, because we have young players. ‘I’m focusing on that. But we’ll see. It’s a long month.’

  • 3 reasons Chelsea released Frank Lampard transfer, target Declan Rice

    3 reasons Chelsea released Frank Lampard transfer, target Declan Rice

    Declan Rice remains a priority transfer target for Frank Lampard even though Chelsea face the prospect of paying a club-record fee for a player they released as a teenager.

    The England international spent his formative years in the club’s prolific academy, but while several of his piers, including best friend Mason Mount, progressed almost seamlessly through to first team level, Rice has taken a roundabout course to becoming a Premier League regular and a hugely influential player in a rapidly improving West Ham side.

    The Hammers wanted around £80million for the 21-year-old in the summer and are unlikely to budge from that valuation should, as expected, Chelsea come knocking again next month.

    READ ALSO: Mohamed Salah speaks on Liverpool future, reveals fate with Jurgen Klopp

    But the Blues could have saved themselves a fortune had they not dispensed with a talent who had been regarded as one of the jewels in the crown of their academy.

    With so many other aspiring youngsters to compete against, meanwhile, it was inevitable that some players would slip through the net – Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah was also released – and the arrival of Sweden Under-16 defender Joseph Colley from Brommapojkarna, now at Chievo, contributed to pushing Rice towards the exit door.

    Rice has since developed into one of the most commanding midfielders in the top flight and a supreme athlete, capable of covering almost every blade of grass and stamping his authority on matches with his physical presence, but it wasn’t always that way.

    Chelsea’s sports science department were said to have warned club chiefs that Rice would go through a growth spurt just two weeks prior to his release and that any judgement on his future should take that into account, but that advice was seemingly ignored and the player eventually joined Fulham before switching to east London.

    ‘Back to the present day and West Ham are said to have offered Rice a lucrative long-term contract but their star player is said to be in no hurry to commit the next few years of his career to David Moyes’ rebuilding project.

    Rice’s current deal expires in 2024 and the Hammers would be able to command a significant fee for a player who openly admitted last month that he was in a rush to add silverware to his burgeoning reputation.

    He said: ‘You want to be successful for club and country. I think it’s an important thing to win trophies. There’s talk of Harry Kane at Spurs and what he should be doing, obviously he can do whatever he wants. He’s going to win trophies we all know that.

    ‘I think that’s something I want to aim for as well. I’m only 21 but to get those highs of your career you need to win stuff and that’s what I want to do.’

  • Frank Lampard hails ‘outstanding’ midfielder on return in Krasnodar draw

    Frank Lampard hails ‘outstanding’ midfielder on return in Krasnodar draw

    Gilmour has battled back from a four-month injury lay-off after knee surgery, and looked assured and confident in the Blues’ midfield.

    The 19-year-old enjoyed a stellar breakthrough campaign last term but now faces even greater competition for chances at Stamford Bridge given Chelsea’s £220m summer recruitment drive.

    Blues boss Lampard hailed Gilmour’s showing in the dead-rubber Champions League encounter however, tipping the ex-Rangers youth product to push hard for regular football now.

    “I thought Billy was outstanding on his return, I felt very comfortable with him coming back in, he’s trained so well, done his rehab and he deserved his chance tonight,” said Lampard.

    “So I expect to see more of the same from Billy as he gets stronger now he is past his injury.”

    Jorginho’s penalty salvaged a second-string Chelsea the draw, after Remy Cabella had put the visitors ahead.

    READ ALSO: Champions League clash postponed after players walk off over racial abuse by official

    The Blues had already won Group E, leaving Tuesday’s west London affair somewhat of an afterthought, though not for those Chelsea stars battling to prove their selection points.

    Academy graduate Tino Anjorin enjoyed a fruitful full debut, with the 19-year-old wing looking comfortable on the ball and working hard.

    Lampard hailed his work ethic and admitted he would spend the next few weeks with the first team, while Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi recover from hamstring issues.

    “Tino showed a real ability to step straight into the level, in terms of his abilities on the ball, which I think he showed today,” said Lampard. “His physical attributes to protect the ball and run shone through well.

    “He’s a work in progress – especially after recent injury concerns – but he’s a player that the more he trains with us, the better he gets.

    “With the injuries we have, in the short-term he’ll be spending more time with us. It was a good debut and he grew into the game as it went along.”

    Wingers Ziyech and Hudson-Odoi have both suffered hamstring concerns, but Lampard hopes both have avoided long-term injuries.

    “We think both are going to be about two weeks, They both had scans yesterday,” said Lampard. “So it should be about two weeks.

    “With Hakim that’s positive, while with Callum we didn’t know what to expect. But it’s good news overall on both.”

  • Chelsea boss considers training changes amid dementia in football concerns

    Chelsea boss considers training changes amid dementia in football concerns

    Frank Lampard has revealed he is considering adapting Chelsea’s training over concerns with the number of former footballers developing dementia.

    Nobby Stiles passed away last month, following Jack Charlton, Martin Peters and Ray Wilson as England 1966 Word Cup heroes to have died after suffering from the same illness, while Jack Charlton’s brother Sir Bobby Charlton has also recently been diagnosed with dementia.

    Another England World Cup winner, Sir Geoff Hurst, has spoken about how he thinks children should be banned from heading the ball while playing football.

    Lampard is in favour of tougher rules in youth football and believes a similar approach could be adopted at the professional level, as long as it was universally agreed and adhered to.

    Reflecting on the issue at his news conference on Thursday, the Chelsea boss said: “The rules need to be stronger to make sure we’re not making younger children head it if they don’t need to. In the development game, that’s more than possible.

    “We have to start with youth football. When children are developing, we can control the levels of training. Anything we can do to make things safer, we should.

    “I think we can work up the pyramid. Already, I’m certainly considering it in terms of how we train here because of the seriousness of the issue.

    “At the professional level, the small gains are huge and we need to make sure we’re working under the same guidelines and trust each other that we are.

    “At the moment, there are no guidelines. It has to be something that goes across the board.”

    Aston Villa manager and former defender Dean Smith, whose father, Ron, had the condition for six years before passing away in May after contracting coronavirus, revealed his concerns and says he would support changes, if further research shows a correlation.

    “I think it’s a question for a wider debate until we have the full science data about heading the ball,” Smith said.

    “I was a defender and my game was about heading a football. Yes it is a concern. If the data comes out and shows a correlation. We’d need to change something.

    “I recently lost my father through covid but he also had dementia and he was not a footballer. Dementia and Alzheimer’s is more prevalent throughout the world now unfortunately but I think if there is a correlation between heading a football and dementia then we need to do something.

    “There’s a lot of people putting in money and intelligence to find out if there is a correlation between heading and dementia. The balls were heavier back then. We are all saddened about the former players who are suffering with dementia at the moment.”

    Burnley manager Sean Dyche has echoed Lampard’s view that changes are needed at youth level and said he has long argued for the use of softer balls for younger players.

    “From working in the youth system at Watford, my view has always been that from a young age they should be learning with sponge balls,” Dyche said.

    “It’s about technique. When you head the ball properly and appropriately you don’t get the same knock-on effect.

    “From the medical side, they’ll know at what age it becomes appropriate to start using a real football.

    “A lot is made of the game being different now, but if you look at the stats, you’ve still got to head the ball at some point from goal kicks or corners. Unless they’re going to take that away but I don’t think that would be a good spectacle.

    “No one wants anyone having future problems and certainly not with the brain.”

  • ‘Abraham has given Lampard a great problem’ –Joe Cole

    ‘Abraham has given Lampard a great problem’ –Joe Cole

    Tammy Abraham has given Chelsea boss Frank Lampard “a great problem” with his performance leading the line in a 3-0 Champions League win over Rennes, says Joe Cole.

    The England international frontman has had to be patient this season as he waits on the regular game time that he craves and needs.

    Just three Premier League starts have been taken in this term, with a summer of big spending at Stamford Bridge seeing competition for places ramped up a notch.

    Prolific German striker Timo Werner has come in and nailed down an important role in Lampard’s plans.

    He is, however, just as effective operating in a wide attacking role as in a central berth.

    Werner was moved back out to the left for a continental clash with Rennes, allowing Abraham to slot in down the middle.

    READ ALSO: Chong among Werder Bremen players not released for international duty

    Both men got on the scoresheet in a comfortable victory over 10 men, with Lampard now facing a welcome selection headache when it comes to piecing together domestic and European XIs.

    “It’s a great problem for Frank,” former Blues winger Cole told BT Sport.

    “All the front players are scoring and making a case, and the midfielders are getting on the ball. Tammy has given Frank something to think about.

    “He kept at it and his movement was good. He didn’t do it in the first half but his goal was not easy to take.”

    Another summer addition, Hakim Ziyech, has also been among the goals of late, while Chrisitian Pulisic provides an obvious threat when fully fit.

    Chelsea are still waiting on Kai Havertz to find a spark, and he is now taking in a period of self-isolation after contracting Covid-19, but the German boasts plenty of promise.

    The same can be said of the Blues as a collective, with Cole impressed by what he saw against Rennes from a team that has plugged defensive leaks and established some much-needed consistency.

    He added: “It was a run-of- the-mill Champions League group game. If you have designs to win the competition, you need to be able to comfortably beat Rennes.

    “There was good composure, moving the ball from side to side and probing.”

    Chelsea will be back in Premier League action on Saturday when taking him a home date with Sheffield United.

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  • Frank Lampard praises Edouard Mendy ahead of goalkeeper’s Rennes reunion

    Frank Lampard praises Edouard Mendy ahead of goalkeeper’s Rennes reunion

    Frank Lampard has heaped praise on “low maintenance” Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy as he prepares to face his former club Rennes in the Champions League on Wednesday.

    Chelsea signed Mendy from the Ligue 1 side in September in a bid to help resolve their defensive issues, having finished with the worst defensive record of any top-10 Premier League team last season.

    The 28-year-old has excelled since moving to Stamford Bridge, keeping five clean sheets and conceding just one goal in his six appearances, and Chelsea head coach Lampard has hailed his influence on and off the field.

    READ ALSO: Ryan Giggs to miss Wales games

    He said: “When we looked to sign him, we obviously made enquiries. Petr Cech was heavily involved – I think that’s pretty common knowledge.

    “All the feedback was that he had a great personality and was a strong personality in the dressing room. Everything I heard, all those positives, have come through.

    “He’s very low maintenance, he works hard, is eager to engage with his teammates and myself. He’s got a smile on his face and has played well.

    “When I say low maintenance, I’m not trying to compare to other players. A lot of that is feedback I get from the coaches, and I’ve had that feedback with the other ‘keepers.

    “It’s a real positive when you have a player that comes in and hits the ground running on the pitch, but also is a real positive in the dressing room.

    “What he’s shown so far has been very complete. He’s made saves in games that have certainly helped us. He’s giving off a sense of calm, his distribution, he’s coming for crosses… things you want from your goalkeeper.”

  • Lampard gives reasons for not picking Victor Moses in Chelsea first team

    Lampard gives reasons for not picking Victor Moses in Chelsea first team

    Chelsea manager, Frank Lampard, has admitted Victor Moses is not part of his first-team plans for the 2020/2021 season.

    The former Super Eagles forward returned to Stamford Bridge this month, after his loan spell at Inter Milan.

    Moses is yet to make a matchday squad since the start of the campaign.

    His last game for the Blues was in a Europa League fixture against BATE in October 2018.

    Ahead of Tuesday’s Carabao Cup clash against Tottenham Hotspur, Lampard confirmed the 29-year-old is not training with the first-team.

    “At the moment Victor isn’t in that position with us. We have a bubble at the training ground with the first-team squad, which Victor hasn’t been part of.

     “I know Victor well and we will see how that develops over the next week,” Lampard said.

    Moses’ deal with Chelsea expires in June 2021.

  • Frank Lampard explains why Edouard Mendy will not make Chelsea debut against West Brom

    Frank Lampard explains why Edouard Mendy will not make Chelsea debut against West Brom

    Frank Lampard has confirmed that Edouard Mendy will have to wait to make his debut for Chelsea given the goalkeeper has barely trained ahead of the side’s clash with West Brom.

    Mendy completed a switch from Rennes to Stamford Bridge earlier this week after the two clubs reached a £22million agreement for the 28-year-old Senegal international.

    Kepa Arrizabalaga has fallen some way short of expectations following his world-record £71m move back in 2018 and the Spaniard did himself no favours last weekend when he was partly at fault for both of Sadio Mane’s goals in Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat to Liverpool.

    However, Kepa could be in line to continue his run in the side at the Hawthorns this weekend, with Mendy yet to take part in serious training after flying into the UK on Thursday.

    Willy Caballero, who took over from Kepa towards the end of last season and started versus Barnsley on Wednesday night, is another option for Lampard against the Baggies.

    ‘To start tomorrow, is not going to happen,’ Lampard said when asked about Mendy’s chances of replacing Kepa in the team at West Brom. ‘He has had a long week and not really trained. ‘He flew in yesterday and it is too tight of a turnaround to start.’

    Lampard admitted he had not yet managed to sit down and talk to Kepa in the wake of Mendy’s move.

    ‘I haven’t spoken to him, but I will have a conversation with him and Caballero in 24 hours or so,’ the Chelsea coach said. ‘There is good competition between them.’

    In his first official interview with Chelsea’s official website, Mendy revealed that he had followed the club since childhood and even owned a shirt was Claudio Ranieri was in charge.

    ‘I’ve been a Chelsea supporter since I was little. I adore this club,’ he said. ‘When I was 12 I had the chance with a past club I played for to go to Brighton, and we watched a match.

    I thought English football was amazing. ‘We went into a shop and I saw the Chelsea shirt, this was about 2003 when Ranieri was the manager, and I bought this shirt. So I’ve always liked this club.’

    Mendy added: ‘I’m waiting to see it live every weekend, but there are a lot of games, a lot of intensity, a lot of goals like this last weekend! ‘It’s an attractive league, the stadiums are fantastic and when they are not shut the passion of the fans is incredible.’