Frank has a dig at Boas…
Frank Lampard says Roberto Di Matteo’s personal touch makes disappointment easier to handle
Frank Lampard has stressed that he has no issue with being dropped by Chelsea but has contrasted how Roberto Di Matteo and Andre Villas-Boas handled his controversial omission from recent matches.
Di Matteo left Lampard on the bench in their Champions League quarter-final against Benfica last week, just as Villas-Boas did in the previous round against Napoli.
Lampard, though, revealed that Di Matteo talked to him before Chelsea’s 1-0 win in Portugal and appeared to draw a pointed comparison with Villas-Boas.
“I spoke with Robbie before the game and certainly had no issue with it,” Lampard said. “I was delighted as anyone in the squad to get the result. At the end, I came on and played 20 minutes or so. Robbie spoke to me. I have complete respect for him, as I have for all of my managers.
“It was nice to be part of a squad, whether you sit on the bench, it’s never an issue of a selfish attitude I think by anyone in our squad when you are not playing. It’s a case of just wanting the team to do well, because success breeds success individually and as a group.”
Asked if there was a different approach in the way he was told that he had been dropped against Napoli to Benfica, Lampard said: “Yes, that is fair to say. That’s just different managers, different ideas.”