FRANK’S PEP TALK TURNS THE AIR BLUE
BY DARREN LEWIS
CHELSEA boss Frank Lampard turned the air blue in an extraordinary spat with members of the Liverpool bench on Wednesday night – telling them to “F*** off !”.
Lampard clashed with Anfield No.2 Pep Lijnders during his side’s 5-3 defeat by the champions and his fury cranked up as Jurgen Klopp tried to calm things down.
Chelsea’s stars reflected their gaffer’s fighting spirit as they battled back from 3-0 and 4-1 down to leave the epic contest on a knifeedge before Alex Oxlade Chamberlain sealed victory for Liverpool.
The foul-mouthed blast followed Naby Keita’s opener after a soft foul on the edge of the Chelsea box.
“How is that a foul? There’s no foul there,” Lampard shouted, appearing to approach Kop boss Klopp before the fourth official intervened.
The German’s gesture to calm down only served to make Lampard more irate. He then turned on Lijnders, telling Klopp: “If he’s going off at me I’ll f ****** say something.”
And addressing Lijnders directly, Lampard shouted: “It’s not a f ****** foul, I’m not asking you!”
When Klopp screamed back ‘Hey!’ at Lampard, the Chelsea boss appeared to say: “You can f*** off and all. You think you can give it the big one, f*** off.”
Although the officials intervened to try and calm the situation, Lampard remained determined to have the last word, shouting back : “Tell them to have respect, sit down!”
Lijnders then celebrated wildly as Trent Alexander Arnold curled in a stunning free-kick to make it 2-0. .
After the match, Lampard told Sky Sports: ‘I’ve got no problem with Jurgen Klopp, he has managed this team and it is fantastic.
“[But] some of the bench. In matches you get emotional and that is it.”