BY EXAMPLE
EXCLUSIVE
FRANK LAMPARD’S brilliance at understanding and building relationships with his players is the reason Chelsea have a chance of Champions League football next season.
That’s the verdict of Tom Young, a performance psychologist who specialises in team dynamics and leadership.
FA Cup finalists Chelsea, who are one point clear of Leicester heading into today’s final round of fixtures, just need a draw against sixth-placed Wolves to secure their spot in Europe’s premier club competition next season.
That would be no mean feat for Lampard in his first season bossing in the top flight, while also blooding a raft of youngsters in the first team.
And the reason for his success? Emotional intelligence.
Young (above) has worked with professional clubs all over the world, across a vast array of sports – and knows a leader when he sees one.
He said: “Lampard’s style is not necessarily quiet, it’s just not as ‘in your face.’ Leaders need to have that emotional intelligence because you know you’ve got different characters in the changing room.
“In a typical team there will be some extroverts and some trying to be extroverts.
“Then you have people focused on just doing their job really well and some who are really introverted, quieter, but they might be some of your most creative players.
“So it’s being able to understand how you push people’s buttons and that’s a massive part of leadership.
“And if you’re ego-based you’re spending less energy on others and more energy thinking about, ‘What do I need to do?’ so that’s a big part of it.
“You’ve still got to be able to make big decisions and back yourself but his emotional intelligence looks to be a big part of his leadership style. He knows how he wants his team to play, he has a clear idea of that.
“There is also the comparison to John Terry. People might have expected him to be the manager because he is more of the aggressive, stereotypical leader and Lampard seems a bit quieter – obviously still a brilliant player – but he is resilient and is based more around respect, trust and that one-to-one communication whereas Terry might fit into more of a typical leadership style. “You can see that from their playing days.” While there have been bumps along the road this season – most notably the recent humiliating defeat to Sheffield United – there have been many more ups, not least reaching the FA Cup final. But it is Lampard’s skills in forming those relationships with his players that has impressed Young the most.
He said: “When you consider what he’s done at Chelsea with the transfer ban they’ve had, the shift in placing more trust and responsibility in younger players and the way they want to play, he’s seen the results.
“He’ll see that what he’s doing is making progress so it will have reinforced how he wants to do things.
“Part of his job is to make sure that there’s not too much pressure on those players, that there’s not too much expectation.
“The players he is bringing in, even though financially it’s a big outlay for the club, they are young, they’re hungry, they fit into the mould that he is bringing through with Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount, Callum Hudson-Odoi and these kinds of players.
“There is a nucleus of young stars that we haven’t seen at Chelsea for a while, so even though they’re spending money, he seems to be focusing on a certain type of player.
“When you look at how he’s dealt with Olivier Giroud and Christian Pulisic, not being in the team and not being happy, and Hudson-Odoi was injured, and then bringing them back, they are good examples because they’ve all done well.
“Individual relationships between players and the manager is key.
“People often have the image of a leader giving Churchillian speeches and really, that still gets done occasionally but it’s a small percentage compared to that one-toone communication in terms of building those relationships.
“So it’s real testament to him that
Giroud just came in and he scored the goals and that’s a big strength.” So, is Lampard Jose Mourinho Jr?
Young added: “High-level athletes and leaders are sponges.
“They will take things that they like and discard things that they don’t and one of the biggest things that a leader has to be is authentic – and that means taking things from your own experiences.
“They will then create their own style from that but when you look at Mourinho with the force of character and the charisma he has, Lampard will have been influenced by that.
“Even if he doesn’t necessarily identify with it.”
CHELSEA boss Frank Lampard heads into a make-or-break week insisting: Don’t judge me on a few days.
The Blues’ Champions League ambitions are on the line this afternoon as they host Wolves still needing a point to secure qualification.
Then six days later at Wembley, they face Arsenal in the FA Cup final.
Emerge triumphant on both fronts and everyone will be hailing Lampard’s first year in the Stamford Bridge hotseat a resounding success.
However, miss out on the top four and fall to Mikel Arteta’s Gunners on Saturday evening and it will be all doom and gloom in that respect.
And Lampard is well aware how quickly the knives will be either sharpened or put away for another day.
Yet, while accepting it is inevitable pundits will assess his managerial abilities at the highest level on the back of a couple of results, he will not be taking too much notice.
Asked if Chelsea must finish on a double high for him to be deemed a hit, he said: “I don’t like the question, no disrespect. I think it’s for other people to do that.
“I’m sure they will. But I don’t feel like it absolutely depends on the next week because some things are slightly out of control when it comes to one game.
“When I think of the strides we’ve made generally as a team, how we’ve looked to next year and how our summer window may be, hopefully there’ll be really positive things to come.
“All I’ve done is get us in this position now. Let’s just hope that we do get the right results.
“If we do, I’ll certainly be very happy because I’ve given everything I can this year. That’s all I can ask of myself – to always try to improve as we go forward. “I’ll let everyone else do the analysing.” Not that Lampard, 42, is playing down the importance of booking a Champions League spot next term.
Having been in the Chelsea side that qualified for the competition in 2003 with a last-day victory over Liverpool – and saved the club from bankruptcy in the process – the ex-England midfielder would never underplay its value.
Back then boss Claudio Ranieri hired an army general to do his pre-match speech. Rest assured, there will be nothing so dramatic ahead of today’s clash with Wolves.
Lampard, who lifted the Champions League in 2012, added: “It was shocking to hear the club might go out of business on one game.
“We had an army general come to the hotel for a motivational talk – then we went out and produced. It was a very good tool but we’re not in that situation this time. I’ll let the players know that but, no, nothing to that level.”
Today, 4pm, Sky Sports Football