Frank Lampard has explained why he made six changes to the Chelsea side for the clash against Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final second-leg. With the Blues chasing a two-goal deficit, many supporters were expecting to see a far more attack-minded side.
However, Lampard decided to omit Mykhailo Mudryk, Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic from the west Londoners' frontline and, instead, operate a front-two of Kai Havertz and Conor Gallagher. Denis Zakaria was also dropped from the side which faced the Seagulls at the weekend, with the 44-year-old preferring a midfield trio of Enzo Fernandez, N'Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic.
The team news did not go down well with a large majority of Chelsea fans, and many have questioned Lampard's decision to be overly conservative. Speaking to BT Sport, the Blues' caretaker boss explained his controversial lineup and revealed his plan to secure a place in the semi-final.
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"Well, I think when I look at us at the moment, firstly you have to respect the opponent, you have to respect the level of the game and I also have to pick players that I feel are in good shape," said Lampard. "It’s up to us how that looks and how we use that offensively and defensively, how we can join in with pace and obviously the wing-backs in the team, shaping up like we did last week, was a part of the game I thought we didn’t use enough last week in the game.
"When we’re gonna use our system we must have possession of the ball, we must use our wing-backs high up the pitch and then you must join in from midfield to get into the box. I actually think we have the legs and energy in there and also defensively the capacity to deal with one of the most important parts of the pitch with the level of player they have in there."
Then, when asked whether the clash against Real Madrid defines Chelsea's season, Lampard added: "It does and it doesn’t. For me [it] doesn’t because I’m here to see it out until the end of the season, but I understand your point and I have to try and understand that because I’ve been here now for 10 or 11 days.
"The players have been here for a full season in a difficult season, and I know how that can mentally affect [them]. I think it comes back to being a realist and keeping the idea of the game plan simple but effective, giving them a clear message of what we wanna do, and drive them.
"That story of disappointment and difficult times is only one that we can change. I’ve been here in seasons and one of my worst personally and best collectively we won the Champions League – I’m not going to say we’re gonna do that now but you have to have that idea.
"The players need to know emotionally this could be an amazing evening but the only way to do that is to practically go out there and perform. I know you’re asking players to flip a switch of confidence and those things, but it comes down to hard work and something might happen.
"If we’re off it like we were off it slightly in Madrid, at this level it’s not going to be there for us, but we have to believe that if we are on it, it can be there for us, especially with our fans behind us."
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