Lampard on injuries, Pulisic, respecting Brighton, conceding goals and young duo ‘pushing’ for a place
Frank Lampard spoke about a number of issues at a news conference ahead of this weekend’s match against Brighton. Here’s some of what the Blues boss had to say.
On Antonio Rudiger
“Out. Toni has got a recurring injury in the groin area – it’s not the original knee injury – so we’re trying to find a solution because he’s still got some pain.
“We are hopeful it still won’t be long, but I haven’t got an end-date. It’s ongoing.”
On Andreas Christensen
“Andreas should be OK. He’s trained with us today. He’s missed most of the week. There’s still a tiny bit of pain but it’s hopefully not a risk, so he’ll be in the squad.”
On whether Olivier Giroud has recovered from illness
“Yes. It’s actually been a difficult week for him because it was quite a strong illness and left him pretty weak, so he’s been getting a bit of strength back this week. Touch and go and we’ll see whether he’s involved.”
On Emerson Palmieri
“Emerson now is going to be the other side of the international break with the hamstring injury.”
On Callum Hudson-Odoi and Reece James
“They’re in the squad. They performed well the other day and I was delighted for Reece to get his first goal and Callum to get his goal.
“They still have improvement but they’re young players and they’ve shown the quality they have. Now they’re back fit, they’re pushing.
“I will be careful with Callum considering the type of injury he had. But that’s not to say he can’t play a major part in tomorrow’s game or a slightly lesser one.
“I’ll have to see, and pick the team on its merits with a bit of Callum’s personal injury situation in my mind.”
On wanting a first home league win
“The fact we haven’t won at home in the league is obviously something we want to correct. If we’re going to be where we want to be then we’re going to need home wins.
“I thought we were very unlucky last week against Liverpool, but that doesn’t help the points situation.
“So we need a similar performance to the Liverpool game. If we get that level of performance I expect the home points to come.”
On Ruben Loftus-Cheek
“Ruben we can’t give a (return) date on but he’s outside jogging slowly, so that’s a positive move this week. It’s good to see him outside.
“We’ll see how that goes over the next weeks – probably months, but weeks as well.”
On Brighton
“We must respect Brighton because they’re playing really well. They’ve got a new manager, play some really good football and have changed their style. They’ve maybe not got the points on the board that they deserve.
“We can’t, just because we haven’t had a win at home, expect that it will come because we’re Chelsea and they’re Brighton. No, we respect them and will try and get our win.
“Each game has to be prepared for on its own merits. Having watched a little bit of Brighton and know a bit about (manager) Graham Potter from last year we have to be ready for anything.”
On the youngsters coming through
“The fact we’re seeing the numbers of them in the first team speaks for itself.
“Fikayo, Mason and Tammy were sat on the bench the other day and we saw the other players – Reece come back, Callum back from injury, and saw from Anjorin and Maatsen the (age) group slightly below that.
“There’s still a lot of work to do for all of them but it’s a nice sign and it feels nice – we’re all happy at the club that we’re there.
“But the step into the first team, even though it feels like the hard one, is actually the easy one. Sustaining and improving and really showing at this level that you are players capable of taking Chelsea to where we want to be is the next step for all of them.”
On whether having to change personnel has caused Chelsea’s defensive lapses
“It’s not the reason. Certainly the reason is that we concede as a team and I wouldn’t be frustrated if we were winning every game – I’m not just here to protect a clean-sheet record. If we win games I’m happy with that.
“Of course though we want consistency as a team and I haven’t been allowed that because of injuries
“Toni Rudiger was obviously a standard pick last year until his injury. He hasn’t been around for me really other than one game.
“So we’ve been searching for that but it’s definitely not the reason (for goals conceded). The reason has been individual moments across the team – set pieces, collective moments as a group.
“We work hard to iron them out but it’s winning games that’s important rather than a clean sheet in itself.”
On Chelsea’s top-four chances
“From the way we’ve played – lots of moments we’ve shown – I have confidence. We’ll have to push, because of Leicester, West Ham and all of these teams who have invested, but we must be confident with what we have.
“Having seen the players close-hand, and some of the way we’re playing in parts of games, I’m as confident as I was before.
“We want to be competitive. We want to get into the top four. We want to improve daily as a team. And I think we’ve shown a lot of signs of that. Now we must keep on improving.”
On Christian Pulisic’s omission
“I have four wingers to choose from now they’re all fit and I think we all forget, because of the price tag and because he’s come through at a very young age, that Christian has only just turned 21.
“It’s very normal for there to be an adaptation period and that’s what he’s doing. He’s shown some really good moments, but what he has to do – as all the players have to do – is reach the levels in training daily.
“My team selection is affected by if I’ve seen good stuff and that’s the same as every player in the squad. Everyone’s in the same boat.
“We must give Christian a bit of time to adapt because of his youth, the change of league and the change of living. On all those things we support him hugely. His talent will come through.”
