Lampard is not afraid of the power of the player who threatens the return of Chelsea | Soccer

To those from outside, that's what pushed Chelsea to win titles during Frank Lampard's days at the club, but also what was good for a group of their managers. The power of the player: it was a double-edged sword, with shades slightly disturbed.

During his second visit to Stamford Bridge, as Maurizio Sarri's successor, Lampard could have been expected to control him, even to suppress him. The truth is different. "I want some player power in the locker room," said Lampard. "I think players have to have personality. We had a solid locker room, which was part of the success. "

Previously, when Lampard, John Terry, Didier Drogba and others had lost confidence in Luiz Felipe Scolari, Andre Villas-Boas or whoever it was, it was enough to call the owner, Roman Abramovich, to trigger a change. . Could the current team not do that to Lampard if things went wrong? "They will not do it," he replies. Why not? "Well, we certainly have never done it."

Perhaps Abramovich is really the untouchable ice man, even though his decision to turn to Lampard, the club's top scorer, contains a thrill of romance. It seemed significant to hear Lampard say that he had not spoken to Abramovich at all during the recruitment process, but only to his right-wing wife, the director, Marina Granovskaia.

Lampard seems to want to embrace the creative tensions that have brought to light the Abramovich era and opposes the idea that the team he inherited is devoid of the characters of yesteryear. "It's way too easy to say that from the outside," says Lampard. "I certainly would not say there is no power or player personality when we talk about players like David Luiz or [César] Azpilicueta; [N’Golo] Kanté, who won the World Cup a year ago; Jorginho entering the club [last summer]; [Olivier] Giroud, winner of the World Cup; Willian.

"Players show their personalities in different ways. You do not need John Terry and Didier Drogba, who were powerful and obvious personalities and players. You can have players who can seem light and who can have different ways that can be powerful. I want them to promote that. I want the players to own them.

"There is nothing wrong with an open club. The modern club is not the dictatorship of the manager, who sees everything and, if someone speaks differently, [takes it badly]. I do not have ego like in [being so naive as to think that] there will be no conversations in a club the size of Chelsea. What I can control, I will control it and it is the driving training every day. "

Lampard's ability to keep in touch with his players was one of the hallmarks of his encouraging debut as a manager at Derby last season and it is hoped that his presence will convince Callum Hudson-Odoi to sign again with Chelsea; The 18-year-old winger entered the final year of his contract.

Lampard's selling points were direct and made headlines. "I've seen Callum arrive and he can be at the center of this team. he can be central in an English team. So I will say, "I want to work with him. I want to move it forward. He can show here, in the club where he went through the academy, that he will become an absolute world clbad player. I really believe that. "

There were other layers to that. Given the history of Lampard, it is fair to say that he will often be quoted as a point of reference – whether he likes it or not. But the fact is that he has always been there and done it; the resonance is there. If Hudson-Odoi was frustrated last season by a perceived lack of opportunities under Sarri, Lampard can tell a story similar to the one he had experienced when he was a teenager in West Ham.

"I was not as good as Callum at that age, but I was frustrated because Harry Redknapp did not play me," says Lampard. "I remember seeing Nigel Quashie play for QPR and I had the bump because I wanted to play for West Ham. Jody Morris was playing for Chelsea. These things – if you have the right attitude – are good competition. I can say it now at 41, but it was good for me because it drove me.

"The conversation has changed – too much, too young is gone. It's like that. What becomes even more important is the player's attitude. how you train and how you push and drive. "