Super Frank Thread

[Jase 43,479]

‘Family is the most important thing’ – Lampard’s heartfelt speech at Christmas lunch as he tries to end Chelsea’s slump

https://theathletic.com/1473828/2019/12/20/family-is-the-most-important-thing-lampards-heartfelt-speech-at-christmas-lunch-as-he-tries-to-end-chelseas-slump/?source=shared-article

Seated in the Cobham canteen, it was almost time for Chelsea’s players and staff to tuck into their annual Christmas ‪lunch on Wednesday‬ when Frank Lampard stood up to speak.

The head coach, surrounded by a feast prepared by the club’s army of chefs, kept his message short and simple: all of your work — seen or unseen — is appreciated, everyone is on the same team and family is the most important thing at this time of year.

Talk of football was kept to a minimum, with Lampard saying that everyone is sticking together during the run of results that have made this the most testing stretch of the season so far.

Lampard is not the first Chelsea boss to thank the club’s staff for the work they do at Christmas. Antonio Conte once spent the best part of two hours making small talk with the lesser heralded employees of Stamford Bridge and Cobham during a surprise appearance at the staff party, having already filmed the customary video address expressing his gratitude.

Nor are festive speeches of thanks from a Chelsea head coach uncommon. Those familiar with the tradition, however, insist they do not usually come across as quite so personal or heartfelt. Lampard’s words were well received, in keeping with pretty much everything else he has done to build a more positive, inclusive culture at Cobham since his return to the club in July.

It all helps explain why Chelsea’s run of one win in five Premier League matches, culminating in a dire performance in defeat at home to Bournemouth on Saturday, has not been accompanied by the murmurs of disillusionment and discontent that often find their way out of Cobham at times like this. Lampard is not like previous head coaches, the desire to help him succeed is personal as well as professional.

Nothing has reached the Chelsea hierarchy either. From the top of the club there is an expectation that results will recover, but also a recognition that Lampard’s young team were always likely to encounter moments like this during a season of transition. The head coach and his staff are being given the time and space to identify what the problems are, and how to solve them.

Lampard was adamant after the Bournemouth loss that there would be no knee-jerk reactions. “It won’t be a hard week where I get them in training ‪tomorrow morning‬ (Sunday) and we watch a video for two hours,” he said. “We’ve got a long week where they can go away a little bit and have time with their families and when we work, we work and focus on the Tottenham game.”

He has been true to his word. Chelsea’s players were given Sunday off as planned before returning to Cobham on Monday. Training this week has been intense, but no more so than usual. A chunk of Wednesday remained reserved for the Christmas lunch, while ‪on Thursday afternoon the squad made their annual festive visit to youngsters at Chelsea And Westminster Hospital.

Throughout it all Lampard’s steady, warm demeanour has been appreciated by those at Cobham who still recall the more volatile manner of some of his predecessors. There is amusement at the ball-boy patting charm offensive of Sunday’s opponent Jose Mourinho since joining Tottenham, given the manner in which he made daily life a misery at Chelsea’s training ground during his final months.

Mourinho did at least win plenty of friends and admirers prior to that point. The same cannot be said for Maurizio Sarri, who made minimal effort to assimilate or ingratiate himself at any level last season outside the training pitch. And as relations with the board disintegrated after his glorious Premier League title win, even Conte became a spikier presence to be regarded with wariness at Cobham.

Lampard’s deep, long-standing connections at Chelsea have undoubtedly helped him, but it is more than that. As a player he was not the chattiest, often consumed by his daily routine in relentless pursuit of the consistent excellence he achieved. But from the start of his managerial career last season at Derby County, he has also been keenly aware of the importance of ensuring that those around him feel valued.

Perhaps this is because he is now in a profession where it is harder to convince himself that he is master of his own destiny. Through physical and mental preparation, footballers can exert a great deal of control over their own performances, but even the most meticulous managers cannot fully escape the million variables that affect results.

This unforgiving reality is why Lampard never subscribed to the unbridled optimism sparked by his vibrant young team’s early-season winning streak, or by suggestions that it would not matter if the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decided not to lift the club’s transfer ban in time for them to buy in January.

“I’m disappointed but I think I got asked at all these press conferences when we were winning on the bounce about how good we were and how quickly it’s all changed,” he said after the Bournemouth loss.

“I was always guarded against that. Whether I’ve been proven right or whatever the best way to put that is now we have the reality, that if we’re not at our best, if we haven’t got enough to break teams down that are organised, if players with their individual quality and personality can’t do something to beat teams that are organised, then we need to find another way. That’s a test and that’s hard work needed for us.”

Hard work has always been Lampard’s default setting, from the moment he took on his father’s habit of putting on a pair of running spikes and doing shuttle sprints up and down the family garden as a 10-year-old. It is inevitable that whether results are good or bad, his focus will remain on the process.

That process has remained largely the same at Cobham this week, with assistants Jody Morris, Joe Edwards and Chris Jones leading the drills while Lampard stands one step back, taking a broader view and generally dispensing advice on a one-to-one basis. When it comes to the final preparations for Sunday’s game away to Tottenham today, his will be the only voice on the training pitch that can be heard.

Results may get worse before they get better, particularly with Mourinho’s resurgent Tottenham knowing they can leapfrog Chelsea into fourth place with a win. But with Lampard in charge, Cobham will not quite so easily be infected with the sense of crisis it has known all too well in the past.

[Vesper 30,091]

 

[Jase 43,479]

 

[Jase 43,479]

 

[Henrique 9,133]

If Mount start against Spurs I Will lost all my hope left in Super Frank.

[NikkiCFC 8,285]

30 minutes ago, Henrique said:

If Mount start against Spurs I Will lost all my hope left in Super Frank.

I was afraid about nepotism in our club too but Frank really impressed me with wanting Isco. 

[Jase 43,479]

1 hour ago, NikkiCFC said:

I was afraid about nepotism in our club too but Frank really impressed me with wanting Isco. 

[Henrique 9,133]

Mount starting and Pulisic on the bench...Frank is the new Solksjaer.

[Jase 43,479]

Lampard's first Big 6 win comes against Mourinho and Spurs.  

Has also won both of his games against Mourinho!

[killer1257 3,282]

I think that I speak for all of us right now that Lamps should be sacked asap. He is just not good enough. Shit tactics, no defensive structure and so much favouritism...

Gesendet von meinem SM-G920F mit Tapatalk

[Jase 43,479]

Just now, killer1257 said:

I think that I speak for all of us right now that Lamps should be sacked asap. He is just not good enough. Shit tactics, no defensive structure and so much favouritism...

Gesendet von meinem SM-G920F mit Tapatalk
 

Still unhappy he picked Azpi over James and started Mount?  

[killer1257 3,282]

Still unhappy he picked Azpi over James and started Mount?  

No, I am unhappy that people want him to be sacked. Lamps outcoached Mou again.

Azpi was good today apart from this one moment where he lost the ball and rüdiger had to save it and got a yellow from that. Can happen though.

Gesendet von meinem SM-G920F mit Tapatalk

[Tomo 21,751]

Think if we win the reverse fixture Lampard will be the first ever manager to do a league double against Mourinho, Anywhere.

Wouldn't that be ironic...

[MoroccanBlue 5,375]

We were fortunate Spurs were gash but tactically, everything was spot on. 

Still horrid in the final third with our decision making, but can't fault the effort the team put in and the defensive structure Lampard set up. 

Finally a big win. 

[petre.ispirescu 4,928]

It was always going to be a rollercoaster of a season with some truly crap matches v poor opposition and some truly remarkable ones v top clubs. Chelsea have really looked very good v Liverpool and City and today's display v Spurs was really great, one of those matches where I did not break a single sweat in front of the TV, nor my heart rate went ballistic. 

Give the man time and at least 3-4 transfer windows and he'll take us back to the top. We just need a settled and solid defence and some extra top ballers and we are good to go.