Lamps axe death knell for football

but I regret that he (Lampard) wasn’t able to finish his project.

“The feeling I get is that the group Lampard built is one of the best groups in English football – and when you say a very good group in English football, you mean the whole world.

“Evidently that group needed development and time, so I regret that a colleague who has designed a very interesting project wasn’t able to finish it.”

While Bielsa and Lampard fell out spectacularly two years ago over the infamous Spygate saga, the 65-year-old’s passionate defence of his rival illustrates his deep affection for the English game.

He added: “With respect to the time that coaches are given by institutions – English football, which had been a leader in the world with regards to allowing managers time to develop their projects, has clearly stopped doing so.

“Very well qualified coaches arrive, very good players arrive, the quality of the spectacle is improved and the scenario becomes international.

“But there are things which English football possessed which it no longer possesses – things which made it very attractive.

“For example, in a scenario where a team can be created over a long period of time, the improvement of the project was valued through hard work and support. To lose that is to lose a lot of things.

“The public only values the badge and the result.

“One day all of this is going to have consequences that the public is going to regret.”