Frank Lampard
Hakim Ziyech will bring a different dimension to Chelsea’s attack, Frank Lampard has said. he Moroccan, whose debut was delayed by a knee injury, impressed in the Champions League win away to Krasnodar on Wednesday evening and the head coach believes that a player he said has been a “dream to work with” off something different in attack compared to the rest of the squad.
Frank Lampard said “With Hakim we had the potential to bring in someone with real different qualities to what we’ve had in recent years in terms of a left-footed, right-sided player which was his main position position at Ajax, although I know he played in a No10 and he can definitely do that for us if we want to play a No10. But he does it in a way that he very much about opening up chances for others with his crossing ability and final pass. He’s not necessarily a winger who is going to fly past players all the time, albeit that is in his game. He can find a pass and sometimes last season I felt we lacked that when we were playing against low-block defences. We saw a bit of his quality and personality against Krasnodar. The idea of receiving the ball and turning, facing forward and finding that pass before teams are set, that is what I’m excited about to see from Hakim. I really like him as a personality, I had conversations with him very early when we signed him and was struck by his confidence. There is an inner confidence which I love. We needed that. We need players with confidence and personality who believe they should be here and want to offer something. He has been an absolute dream to work with. Sometimes you see the best of players when they are injured because he was so excited to come here and hit the ground running and got his injury in pre-season and his work ethic in the gym, interaction with the physios, desire to get fit and to form relationships in the group, he has made himself at home and felt at home in a short space of time. I think he is going to be a big plus for us on the pitch. I can see it already.”
