So when the midfield player says that this Chelsea team are as close-knit as the West Ham of old you take note
Posted in General on 15. Oct, 2010
So when the midfield player says that this Chelsea team are as close-knit as the West Ham of old, you take note. The idea might seem as improbable as the Blues’ League position, and yet training on Friday morning told its own story. The players were in mid-session when Felicity, one of the club’s biggest fans, ran on to the pitch to kiss last week’s scorers “It’s a fun weekly ritual,” Lampard smiles. “Those who find the net get a peck.”
Frank Lampard knows a thing or two about clubs with a family atmosphere.
“Those who find the net get a peck.”
Just as was the case with Uncle Harry Redknapp at West Ham, the manager is the key to the recent success at Stamford Bridge. Claudio Ranieri may be eccentric, but he is also a highly polished football coach who knows how to get the best out of his eclectic mix of stars. No one has benefited more from the Italian’s touch than Lampard. The 24-year-old’s potential was always evident at West Ham, but many remained unsure as to his ability to perform at the highest Premiership level. “How will he fare once removed from the comfort of Upton Park?” the sceptics asked. “Not too well,” appeared to be the answer for several months after Ranieri had spent £11m to tempt him along the District Line.For much of his first season at Stamford Bridge, the responsibility of having to lead the midfield of a club with serious trophy ambitions seemed to be too much for the lad from Romford.
“I had been at West Ham all my life,” Lampard now explains, “since I was a baby, really. Then, suddenly, you come out into the big wide world, join a bigger club with bigger stars, and it catches you out a little. Yeah, it took time for me to feel my way in, but I think that’s normal for a guy my age.”Lampard was not helped at the time either by the poor form of Emmanuel Petit. Midfield partnerships are a little like bulbs on a Christmas tree: if one goes out, the other cannot function either.
The Frenchman is now at something approaching his Arsenal best, though, and the two are beginning to look dominant in their midfield roles “I like these two together,” Ranieri says. “They have taken a little while to get to know each other, but things are going well now. Frank has grown stronger alongside Manu.”It is to Lampard’s credit that, despite the lack of consistency in his performances last season, he was still the most used player at the club. His hard work saw him improve towards the end of the campaign, but his efforts came too late to be rewarded with a place in the World Cup party. This was a crushing blow for a player who had missed out on a squad berth at the European Championship two summers before as well. “It was a massive let-down,” says Lampard, who has seven caps.