Foriegn

Lampard hits back at Mourinho over selection criticism

Frank Lampard has hit back at Jose Mourinho’s criticism of his team selection against Manchester United by insisting that he doesn’t care what pundits say.

Mourinho, working for Sky Sports, said Lampard could have picked a team with more “know how” instead of selecting youngsters Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham for the 4-0 defeat at Old Trafford.

But Lampard rejected his former manager’s claim by insisting more experienced players like N’Golo Kante, Olivier Giroud and Willian were not available to start.

“I can’t drag people out of the medical room, whether they’re experienced or not,” said Lampard after his first competitive game as Chelsea boss.

“The players we played today, and on the bench, are the players we have. We were clearly the better team for 45 or even 60 minutes but we made individual errors that led to four goals from five shots. That’s the harsh reality.

Jose Mourinho

“I don’t have to be too concerned about what anyone else says — the pundits — but what is clear is the squad we’ve got and I believe in it.

“Had we gone in at half-time 2-1 or 3-1 up, which we should have done, the game would have been completely different.”

Lampard’s team hit the post twice during an impressive first-half display but went in at the break a goal down thanks to Marcus Rashford’s 18th-minute penalty.

United were clinical after the break and scored three times in 16 minutes through Rashford, Anthony Martial and Dan James prompting Mourinho, who also said Man City’s “B Team” could beat United, to suggest that Chelsea had been hurt by a lack of experience.

“My feeling is that today they had a possibility to play with more know-how,” Mourinho said. “[Marcos] Alonso was on the bench, Kante was on the bench, Giroud was on the bench, and to come to Old Trafford, even if this is not the huge Manchester United that used to scare people, it’s Manchester United.

“It’s the first match at home, the first match of the season, people are excited, the stadium is on fire waiting for something positive.

“A little bit of experience from Chelsea would fit well with the team. You look to the performance of Mason Mount, the performance of Tammy Abraham, you look to the performance even of Andreas Christensen and for matches of this dimension you need a little bit more.”

Lampard admitted that the match had been a “reality check” for his young team, but refused to make excuses over missing international stars as the reason for the result.

“We are missing internationals and big players but I don’t want that excuse,” said Lampard. –ESPN

Show More
Back to top button