Barkley ordered to take risks and add goals for Chelsea
Midfielder is delighted to be ‘let off the leash’ Lampard must fill void left by Hazard transfer
Frank Lampard has told Ross Barkley he will let him off the leash this season – and it is music to the ears of the England midfielder.
Since his move to Stamford Bridge from Everton 18 months ago, Barkley has not always enjoyed the full confidence of Antonio Conte or his successor as manager, Maurizio Sarri.
Throw in an early injury during his time in London, and Barkley’s Premier League starts and goal return have not been at the level he had anticipated.
But Eden Hazard’s departure for Real Madrid leaves a void that needs filling in attack, and Lampard has made it clear to Barkley that he will back him 100 per cent when it comes to taking risks on the field.
Barkley, 25, said: “In training the manager has been saying, ‘Express yourself on the pitch, take risks, don’t be too safe, shoot, try and create chances’.
“It is something I can do and it is what he has been putting into me in training and the pre-season games.
“I have seen what he was capable of as a player when I played with him for England a few years ago. He has brought the work ethic that he had as a player and as a manager into the squad.
“It is a dream to hear him tell me to take risks because you don’t want to play in your shell, you want to be playing off the cuff sometimes to take chances and make something happen.
“That’s what players like myself, Mason [Mount], Ruben [Loftuscheek] when he’s back, want to express on the pitch.
“All managers are like that but some managers like discipline as well, which I have added from previous managers. It’s about getting the right balance and knowing on the pitch when is the right time to take risks.
“But of course it is exciting. As a player you can’t be too worried if you take a risk and whether it’s not going to come off. You have to try to make things happen, and hopefully it will happen more times on the pitch. I’m looking forward to taking my chances.”
Barkley said Lampard was one of his idols when he was growing up. “I was always watching Match of the Day, you always saw him every week scoring goals. At maybe nine or 10 I had stickers of him, so to go to playing with him for England and then have him as a manager – it shows anything can happen in football.
“Now he is back here as the boss, it is brilliant for all the players in the squad. He’s got all the respect from the players, for the player he was and the person he is.”
He said Lampard was always talking to players to “give them tips on how to improve”.
“It is a new formation – we’ve had to adapt to the different systems, but it is about being hungry for goals, having the desire to get in the box.
“At the minute I have been playing a bit further forward, to think like a striker especially as a No10, but also try to help out defensively and work hard off the ball.
“The manager will help all the midfielders. He is a legend of the game, the highest goalscoring midfielder in Premier League history, so we are going to take all he has to give us and the experience he has from the past on board.”
There is much need for goals and assists from other quarters at Chelsea since long-time talisman Hazard left for Real Madrid earlier in the summer.
But Barkley, despite having scored just three Premier League goals for Chelsea to date, insists he and the rest of the squad have the ability to provide them.
Further boosted by scoring a brilliant free-kick in the 4-3 friendly win at Reading on Sunday, he said: “You have to fill in. Everyone in the squad understands that Eden was a great player, but he is gone now.
“He has new challenges and we have to replace his goals and create the chances. We have that much quality in the squad we will all step up to the plate.
“We can take responsibility. Last season when Eden wasn’t playing we still won games, we still created chances to score.
“We know he is an exceptional player, but we have exceptional players in the squad. We have young ones that will step up
“We have Callum [Hudson-odoi] coming back from injury and we have signed Christian Pulisic, who is an exceptional talent.
“We have wingers who can create from tight positions, players who can shoot from distance and strikers – young and experienced – who are hungry for goals.”