WE’LL USE OUR HEAD
THE FAI will monitor the effect of new heading guidelines for children in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Youngsters aged 11 and under will no longer be taught to head footballs in training but they can do in matches.
Deputy FAI boss Niall Quinn (above) said yesterday: “We’re in communication with the football authorities in the UK and with UEFA on this issue.
“The health and safety of our schoolboys and girls is paramount and we note the decision taken in Northern Ireland, Scotland and England.
“Our underage players already play with a lighter ball depending on their age and we will continue to assess developments across Europe.”
FRANK LAMPARD has told his Chelsea players they have to raise their levels to the limit to keep the Blues’ Champions League dreams alive.
Chelsea held a team meeting before they beat Tottenham on Saturday to thrash out the problems they had been having playing at Stamford Bridge.
Lampard said it was a problem of sorting out their mental approach to games at home. His team beat Spurs 2-1 after the clear-the-air talks, but last night he insisted they have to step up their efforts even further.
Bayern Munich arrive at the Bridge tonight unbeaten in 11 games, with key striker Robert Lewandowski having hit 32 goals this season alone. In their last two trips to London, the German giants hit seven goals against Spurs and five against Arsenal.
Chelsea have lost seven games at home in all competitions this season, but the win over Spurs will have boosted confidence.
Lampard said: “The reaction to the meeting and against Tottenham was spot on. What we can’t do now is forget what made us play so well at the weekend. We have to replicate that and more. That was a start for us on Saturday, but we need to keep it going.
“A lot of parts of our game are good, but the important parts – in the final third, scoring goals, finishing off what you’ve created, then making sure we don’t concede with absolute focus – have been short.
“If you have 20 shots in a game and don’t score, and the other team have two and score, and that’s recurring, then that’s an issue.
“It felt like a mindset thing. If you’re not scoring, it can be a mixture of many things – confidence, something that’s slack, or how you prepare. It was about being honest. The beauty of the meeting was everyone felt the same. I’ve been in meetings where people can’t find the reason. But I’ve got a really good group.
“Saturday was absolutely firstclass. Off the ball and on the ball. But off the ball is what you need against a team like Bayern.”
Chelsea skipper Cesar Azpilicueta was filmed going in with a two-footed tackle on his manager in training yesterday, such was its intensity. Lampard (right) said: “We have to deliver. Deliver that attitude you saw in Azpi’s clip. That needs to be delivered tonight. Maybe not with two feet, obviously.
“Our concentration and focus levels have to be absolutely top in both games with Bayern. I like us to take risks in attacking areas, to try to create and score goals. But in terms of our defensive mindset, from back to front, we have to be really on it. Defensively, there is no risk-taking.
“When you get to the knockout stages, against a team as good as Bayern, the levels have to go up everywhere.”
Lampard is expected to stick with the formation that beat Spurs, but Olivier Giroud (in training, above) could make way for fitagain Tammy
Abraham up front.