Jose Mourinho worried about Chelsea in "big matches" despite impressive run - 7M sport

Jose Mourinho worried about Chelsea in "big matches" despite impressive run

Chelsea have won six straight Premier League games under Frank Lampard, but Jose Mourinho is still concerned about them in with top opposition


Posted Monday, November 11, 2019 by Dailystar.co.uk

Jose Mourinho worried about Chelsea in
Jose Mourinho is worried about former club Chelsea in "the big matches"

Jose Mourinho has heaped praise on Frank Lampard for the work he is doing at Chelsea, but admits he still worries about his former side in “the big matches”.

Lampard is enjoying a purple patch in the Blues hot-seat after a difficult start which saw them lose 4-0 away at Manchester United on the opening day of the season.

Since then, the former England midfielder has picked up 26 points out of a possible 33, only losing at home to European champions and current Premier League leaders Liverpool.

And Chelsea have followed up that defeat by winning six league games on the bounce, which means they now sit above champions Man City in third place.

Lampard has certainly brought a feel-good factor back to Stamford Bridge, with academy graduates Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori all becoming key players for him.

Christian Pulisic, the 20-year-old American winger who joined in a £58m switch from Borussia Dortmund in the summer, has also hit the ground running.

But Mourinho believes Lampard still needs to show more pragmatism when up against top sides, insisting he is “still worried” about his ex-midfielder’s team.

“In the first weekend I was worried and I’m still worried with the big matches,” he told Sky Sports.

“I think fantastic work. The kids coming into the team are fitting amazingly well with the top class players like Willian and Kante.

“I think really, really great work by Frank. But they lost twice against United, they lost against Liverpool at home.

“They conceded four goals against Ajax and I’m very, very curious to see Chelsea in the next match at the Etihad.

“I’m curious to see if they found that great empathy between the good football they play and the pragmatism that the top teams must have to play against top teams.

“When they find that I think they have a great team for the future. I don’t believe in them to finish top two, but I believe very seriously for them to finish top four.”

Chelsea’s latest win came at home to Crystal Palace yesterday, with goals from Abraham and Pulisic making it six wins from six in the top-flight.

Lampard felt his side thoroughly deserved the three points, waxing lyrical about the promising batch of young stars at his disposal.

“We certainly deserved to win the game, but it was frustrating in a way because we had chances but not enough clear-cut ones,” he said.

“[The young players] are a big part of the team. The older players help the younger ones but they have to realise very quickly what this level is because it's tough.

“The way they work daily and approach games is great. Can we replicate that through a longer period, that's the test.

“We've had teams come here and be difficult to break down, it's a test of not only how you unlock the door, but can you switch on to make sure you don't get hit by the sucker punch? I was really delighted with the game management.”



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