Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
YOUTH CLUBS
Lampard proud of developing homegrown talent but says Blues have a ‘long way to go’ before they can be compared to Dutch masters
FRANK LAMPARD admits Chelsea have a “long way to go” before they can be compared to Ajax.
But at the home of a club famous for developing their own superstars, Lampard spoke with pride about bringing through a new generation of homegrown players.
The Chelsea boss is set to name four academy graduates – Fikayo Tomori, Reece James, Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount – in a starting line-up that would have been unthinkable last season.
And the similarities now go deeper as Ajax also pride themselves in bringing back great players to be on their staff with Edwin van der Sar and Marc Overmars having senior roles in their set-up.
Chelsea did the same with Lampard in summer, while Jody Morris, Eddie Newton, Claude Makelele, Petr Cech and Ashley Cole are also back at Stamford Bridge as they look to follow the Ajax model.
Lampard said: “We’ve a long way to go to claim the similarities, but I think pride in the short term, yes.
“Because we shouldn’t get carried away with ourselves, it’s great we have a good feeling at the club, in terms of the young players that have come through. It’s long-deserved recognition for the academy itself and those players as well.
“But we are at a place here steeped in history of bringing young players through, creating great teams with groups of young players over the years.
“We have a long way to go to do that. But in the short term I’m certainly happy and we need to continue working so they continue their development, the young players.
“I aim to give them confidence because I believe in them. What Ajax did last year was incredible – to get as far as they did with such a young team.
“With us, I think you see my belief in them because even though everyone says we had a transfer ban and it’s the only option I have, that’s not true. I have lots of options in the squad and I decide on the players I feel should play.
“The young players have shown it and I believe in them. That’s a good thing. But we mustn’t get carried away with thinking that’s the end of the story. It’s a nice story until now, but success in the longer term is what we have to work for.
“I keep saying it is just the beginning of the road, but I feel that by having belief in them, they can feel that back, which is good. I also need to be strong in driving them to get better all the time.” Ajax were a club reborn last season as homegrown stars Frenkie de Jong, Matthias de Ligt and Donny van de Beek starred in the run to the Champions League semi-final.
That team was broken up in the summer, but they are rebuilding again and Lampard is also slowly building a new-look Chelsea team who are under pressure to get a result because defeat would leave them in danger of an early exit.
Lampard laughed when he was asked why he looked scared of Ajax. “That is just my face,” said Lampard. “It is a really tough match against a team that we know how they performed last year and how they’ve started this group, winning both games comfortably.
“So it’s going to be a tough match, I don’t think the five wins mean anything other than hopefully we have some confidence. But this will be a completely different challenge which we need to be ready for.
“I respect them, on a serious note. We saw the way they played last year and I know the team has changed slightly, but I’m very aware of the new threats and travelling anywhere in the Champions League is difficult.
“They have won two games in the group convincingly, so definitely it is not a fact of being scared of Ajax. We have confidence in ourselves, but know it is a tough match.”