Frank Lampard says he is driving home to Chelsea’s squad the dangers of relaxing after they recorded a sixth straight win at Ajax. His team face a tough game at Burnley and he is drawing on lessons learned before he became a manager.
“I remember being a player and having good runs of form, slightly relaxing in training in moments and the form turned and I had to reassess myself,” he said. “I always felt that as a player so I became, as I got older, more fearful of good patches, fearful of any form of relaxation, so I push that and the staff do too. I certainly am the one who drives that home because that was me.”
The 41-year-old emphasised that, rather than shouting, directness and consistency of message are the keys to ensuring his players listen.
“I’ve had a couple of words occasionally but I’m not a manager that is full of rollockings as such. I like to have a message that is pretty clear over a period of time that I try and drive home, and certainly if I ever felt there was a lack of effort in training or in a game then that would be the moment that I would go towards [rollockings].”
Lampard acknowledged that managing modern players requires tact. “I would not say that I played under any managers that gave it out … [Harry Redknapp] would have been the one who was the most vocal at times, throwing a sandwich or stuff. [The] old school thing,” he said, laughing. “If it’s a firm bollocking and you talk about being on edge then I think that is good in a positive way. But do it consistently – who wants that every day?”
