Lampard: No hiding from pressure at top
Chelsea coach says team must step up in Valencia Striker Abraham shrugs off weight of expectation
Frank Lampard has been careful from the start not to give his young Chelsea team excuses or allow them to slip into the mindset that this season is any kind of free pass, and yesterday there was no attempt to disguise the pressure they will face here.
The head coach has always stressed that he knows what is expected at Stamford Bridge and his players, however young, must reach certain standards.
That message has been taken on board as Chelsea have surprised many by racing into the top four of the Premier League and the youngsters have proved themselves fast learners in the Champions League.
But a new test presents itself at the Mestalla Stadium, as they face a different kind of pressure and expectation to seal their qualification from Group H. With Ajax, Chelsea and Valencia all level on seven points, either Chelsea or Valencia will be through if they win tonight due to their favourable headto-head record in a potential three-way tie. But anything other than a victory would mean Chelsea go into their final game against Lille still trying to seal their progression.
“I think it’s a mustnot-lose game because of the position we’re in,” said Lampard. “I always felt it would be a tight group. We don’t want to lose the game. It doesn’t mean we’re out if we lose, but it puts us in a very difficult position.”
Asked if the test would teach him something new about his players, Lampard added: “I think it will. They’ve shown in a lot of moments they’re up to certain challenges. The Champions League has given us different ones because if anybody’s going to take a group like this lightly, they’ll be quickly shown how difficult this level of football is. What we’ve done is bring that knockout football slightly earlier in the competition. The reality is at this level you’re going to come to that kind of conundrum at some point, so that is a big test for us.”
Of all of Chelsea’s youngsters, it is perhaps striker Tammy Abraham who is having to learn to cope with expectation quickest of all. Such was his excellent start to the season that Abraham has to accept that his performances will be questioned by some each time he does not score. And even though he is the second-highest scorer in the Premier League, behind Jamie Vardy, with 10 goals, critics will point to the fact that Abraham is yet to net against any of the so-called big clubs. Abraham, who has scored one Champions League goal, against Lille, said: “Coming up against great teams, there are going to be less chances. But I wouldn’t say that plays on my mind. When that chance comes, I have to grab it. I’m not worried about it. Every team in the Premier League or Champions League is a strong team. Scoring goals against anyone, I would celebrate it like it’s the World Cup final.
“This is our biggest game of the season so far, but training hasn’t been different. All of us know what’s coming.”
Ross Barkley has not travelled, but Lampard stressed the midfielder’s absence was due to an ankle injury and not because he was pictured dancing in a nightclub with his shirt off during the international break. Lampard, who has previously spoken with Barkley over being pictured during a dispute over a taxi fare, said: “Ross knows how I felt about the first headline. I backed him then, I still back him but he showed a moment of a lack of professionalism.”
Valencia (probable, 4-4-2) Cillessen; Gaya, Gabriel, Mangala, Wass; Soler, Parejo, Coquelin, Ferran; Gomez, Rodrigo.
Chelsea (probable, 4-3-3) Kepa; James, Zouma, Tomori, Azpilicueta; Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic; Willian, Abraham, Pulisic.
Referee Felix Zwayer (Germany). KO 5.55pm TV BT Sport 3.