Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BANK LAMPARD
Blues boss hints at a summer spending spree to close gap on Reds and City
FRANK LAMPARD has issued a veiled warning to his Chelsea stars that they have until the end of this season to prove themselves.
Tuesday night’s 3-0 Champions League humbling at the hands of Bayern Munich highlighted just how far the Blues have to go to get back into Europe’s elite.
Now, holding on to fourth place and ensuring qualification for the Champions League next season is crucial for Lampard – although he insisted the Chelsea board were behind him.
His team face Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium today and Lampard believes he will get a response from his youthful team after Tuesday. The Chelsea boss, whose side are three points ahead of fifthplaced Manchester
United, said: “There is a reason why we are where we are.
“We have not challenged in the Premier League for a couple of years. We want to close that gap.
“In the summer, as a club, we want to move forward and make some decisions.
“We are certainly on the same page here when
I speak with the board. We know we are fighting for fourth place.
“But the landscape of the Premier League has changed. Man City and Liverpool have set incredible standards, but we had some outside influences with the transfer ban, and a huge player in Eden Hazard leaving.
“How long can these players go on being considered young? I don’t know. I suppose it’s when they’ve a bank of games behind them. Or when a younger player comes through.
“I don’t think of them as young. If they train at a level and play at a level, I’m not concerned.
“Maturity will come for them, that’s why we have to give them some leeway this year.
“For Mason Mount and Reece James on
Tuesday, it was a huge game for them in terms of their learning curve. I didn’t play my first
Champions League game until my mid-twenties.”
Lampard admitted he does not know when top-scorer Tammy Abraham will be back. The England striker aggravated an ankle injury on Tuesday. And the Chelsea manager said: “I don’t know how long he will be out for. It’s an ankle injury. The inflammation is causing pain.
“Surgery has not been mentioned. But it’s a month later with Tammy and we’re still talking about it. “It’s been frustrating. We have seen him come back and go away again.
“Sometimes, things are about the pain threshold. If he is not comfortable, he probably has to come out for a few days.”