Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
LAMPS HAPPY BUT WARNS HIS YOUNG STARS IT’S TIME TO GROW UP
FRANK LAMPARD has told his Chelsea stars that a top-four finish will do this season.
But that, in the long term, they must get back to a level which will see them going head-to-head with Liverpool and the Premier League’s other title contenders.
Lampard has already made his first move in that respect by wrapping up his maiden signing as Blues boss — £37million Hakim Ziyech, who will arrive from Ajax this summer. And he now wants to see how his youngsters react to having to fight for their places, something he had to get used to in his playing days.
Lampard said: “Fourth for Chelsea is our aim, but it shouldn’t be our aim long-term.
“We want to be pushing again to close the gap to the standard, which, at the moment, is Liverpool.
“That’s the longer-term vision. With the young players, they have made a great impact. We have had a reliance on them to a degree because we knew we couldn’t bring anyone in.
“You look at Tammy Abraham at the moment and maybe Mason Mount, they can come back and hopefully show more levels in their game.
“They’ve had tough little times recently and it’s up to them now to show they are a big part of our plans no matter who we bring in.
“They are a major part of our plans for sure. But new signings are part and parcel of playing here at Chelsea.
“That will be a challenge that gets laid down in front of the young players and they just have to react positively to it.
“I certainly felt it as a player, and as I felt it more and more, I probably got better at accepting it.
“When I was young I was probably a bit fearful of it. As I got older, I probably took on the challenges with a bit more maturity and felt, ‘What can I do to show
that I deserve to be in the team?’ Those challenges were part of the process of making me, because when you set something in front of someone, they either go for it or they back away from it.
“The young players need to understand they’re part of a squad that wants to go somewhere – and they can show they deserve to be right in the middle of it.”
Chelsea face a top-four test against Manchester United tomorrow as they return from their winter break. But they go into the game with their manager happy with their situation.
He said: “I always like to reflect on myself and how I work, day to day, with the players. And when you’re a new manager at a club you’re always thinking what small tweaks can I make — to how we prepare, how we train daily.
“So there was a lot of selfreflection during the break, which I’m probably always doing.
“Also having some time away brings some clarity. We should be happy we are in fourth position.
“That would have been a plus at the start of the season but, at the same time, how can we get that extra 10 or 15 per cent, which I think we’ve been lacking, which would have given us a lot more points on the board and make fourth look a lot more comfortable?
“So I’ve come back very keen and excited to hit this long run-in to the season.”