Frank Lampard
What is your overriding emotion now it’s over?
I don’t know really. There have been challenges. It’s been enjoyable to be back working at this club because of the feeling I have for it. I don’t like losing games, we lost too many games. When I look back at the situation I came into, I think this season the situation was sewn before that. I came in at the back end of the season where some challenges had probably grown. You live and learn in everything and I’m fortunate I can be at this club working for it, so I really appreciate that. I’m pretty level-headed about it.
If you were leaving a note for the next guy, what would the message be?
When you’re Chelsea and you had a season like we’ve had, there are obviously things that need to improve. I’m not sure that note should be a public one, if anyone wants me to leave a note or speak to me, they can pick up the phone anytime they want. It’s clear there are things that I would see that need to improve but the new manager will see them with his own eyes and he will have a pre-season to work with the team. They need that. We’re not physically competitive enough. Newcastle are. We haven’t been. That’s a strong opinion that I have. Also, we will have the capability as a club and for the new manager to get the squad in the place he wants it to be. That’s going to be some work as well. The squad has been to deep and that’s the biggest challenge I’ve found day to day. Coming in and trying to work with big numbers and players that are maybe a little bit, for whatever reason, disillusioned, for right or wrong, that they’re not playing or they might be leaving. Those situations can be sorted out now and they have to be.
What does the future hold for you personally?
I will have a break now which I’m looking forward to. I don’t know. It’s not affected my drive to do this job or anything like that. I enjoy the job. I understand it can look fruitless from the outside if you’re not getting the results, every manager will go through a variation of that in some way. I enjoy doing it. I will have a break first then see.
Management the drive?
Sure.
Crowd were very good?
They were amazing and also for Azpi. We don’t know what is happening to Azpi yet but the respect for him and what he’s for this club was very evident today. From my point of view, I think Chelsea fans, particularly the match-going fans see the situation I came into. It hasn’t been easy to turn it in a short time, that’s the reality but I’ve given everything in this period. I’m really connected to this club for life, it changed my life when I was 22 years of age and that will never change in my head no matter what. I really appreciate how they were through the game, and at the end of the game and I;m always a Chelsea person at heart though my work will go in different directions.
What was it like in the dressing room because it felt like a few players were at least mindful they were saying goodbye?
I think some have been mindful of that for a while and it’s been part of the problem. It’s hard to compete in this league or at this level if some players are in that middle ground and too many are. That’s been a thing. Maybe getting to the end of it is a good thing. Whoever is emotional or has their eye on somewhere else or whether the club want them to leave or they want to leave. Now we get to the bottom of it quickly. At the end the dressing room was pretty quiet. It’s been a quiet dressing room since I got here. Some of that reflects a lack of confidence in the group but some of those things should have been addressed by the collective as a group anyway. Confidence only follows hard work, otherwise this game won’t allow you to have confidence. There were a lot of those things so I think probably the players are sort of happy to have a break. They have to take responsibility for this season as a collective but also individually. They can have that break and it’s up to all of them to show the pride and dedication it takes to be a Chelsea player to take the club forward.
Where does Thiago Silva rank at Chelsea?
It’s huge isn’t it. He ranks right near the top. It’s hard to compare anyone to John Terry because of his longevity, he came through the club, captain for all of the successful year and was an amazing player. Thiago is another version of an amazing player who has come here at the back end of his career, bought into the club, had a succesful win in the Champions League and is an incredible centre-back. I knew that, I say knew that when I brought him to the club, I thought he was a top player, I didn’t realise how good he is.
As a Chelsea person at heart, are you encouraged that it appears to Mauricio Pochettino next?
I don’t want to get caught on the appointment until the appointment comes. I know you’re going to tell me you all know when it’s coming. I’m a big fan of Pochettino as a manager, he’s a very good manager but it’s not about which individual it might be, it’s about getting the right, high-level of manager. Pochettino’s history tells you he works with clubs at this sort of level. Then let them get to work with the players to try and create a solid idenity in a team that can win more games. Those things are not always overnight things. We have to be careful with expectations a little bit. There is a lot of work to be done, that;s my synopsis after six weeks, the basics I keep talking about. Standards sounds a really simple word but it’s so relevant to this club at the minute. Standards collectively have dropped, I can be honest about that, particularly as it’s the last game, I might not see some of them that much anymore anyway. The standards for a club like Chelsea have to be at a maximum or you won’t be physically competitive enough. Or you won’t get to play at a high level or a high speed like the Premier League demands. If you’re not together in the dressing room, and you’re not vocal in the dressing room driving each other and competitive because I want your place and you want mine and all of those things – any top team has to have that. At the minute, when I came in, very quickly I could see that wasn’t there enough. I think that’s something needed and of course a very good manager will help that. But everyone in that needs to take responsibility, players and club alike.
Can it be turned around in a year?
I don’t know that. It’s hard to say. This league is tough and it’s get more challenging every year, everyone is tryin to move forward. I wouldn’t want to put a time-limit on it.
