FEARLESS FRANK
Lamps calls on players to play out of trouble
KURT ZOUMA says Frank Lampard wants Chelsea to take even more risks to end their poor form.
It was the no-fear football of his young charges that got them off to a flying start this season.
And the Chelsea boss wants them to return to that against Lille in the Champions League tonight to win the three points that will guarantee them a place in the knockout stages.
After just one win in their last five games, Zouma said: “He wants us to be more responsible but take more risks maybe.
“That’s the message. We are a young team but he wants us to help the young guys. He wants us to play like we play in training – to take risks.
“Playing with no fear. Go into the games and give everything.
“He hates a defeat. He is the kind of manager who when you don’t do very well he comes to us and tells us our mistakes and tells us to do it better.
“He is very calm and he understands the game because he has been in it a long, long, long time. He just wants to give us advice and help us.”
Lampard admitted he was upset by the manner of Saturday’s 3-1 defeat against Everton.
“It wasn’t that we were off it but, more than that, there were individual contact moments throughout the game that we lost,” he said.
“But you do learn about your players in tough times on the pitch and their personality.”
A win against Lille will be enough to guarantee safe passage through to the last 16 and Lampard admits the pressure is on.
“The idea that we can get through to the next stage, of course that makes it a big game,” he said. “It’s a knockout game, as such.
“These games are crucial for the players because I think you can be defined as an individual and as a group by success and what success looks like.
“And this means going into the next stage of the Champions League, which is a place we want to be in and a platform for the players to play.
“I like the pressure of this game being a knockout and we are all talking about it. If we’re going to do anything good here, then we are going to need lots of these nights.”
Chelsea are boosted by the return of Antonio Rudiger, who had a knee operation in April and then had to abort his comeback attempt early against Wolves in September after damaging his groin.