Jose Mourinho eyes Frank Lampard as his 'new Makelele' and he will handle him with care this season
Jose Mourinho eyes Frank Lampard as his 'new Makelele' and he will handle him with care this season
New Chelsea boss will save his 35-year-old midfielder for the big games, just as he did with Claude Makelele last time round
Let's be Frank: The Chelsea talisman will be saved for the games that matter say Jose
Michael Regan
Frank Lampard has been told by Jose Mourinho he will be held back for the games that matter for Chelsea this season, writes Martin Lipton in Jakarta .
Lampard
was one of Mourinho’s “untouchables” first time round, missing just six
of the 120 Premier League matches in the Portuguese’s three-and-a-bit
seasons.
But the England star has now turned 35, having just
signed a new 12-month deal, subject to wear and tear and no longer
immune to the demands of the game.
And with an awareness that he
still needs a significant dressing room disciple, Mourinho will use him
sparingly, targeting the key matches, as he did with Claude Makelele,
rather than expecting Lampard to be an ever-present this time round as
well.
In what was a clear and unambiguous statement of the new Stamford Bridge reality, Mourinho said: “With Frank, the role doesn’t have to change.
“What
has to change is the way we analyse every competition. With Frank,
before, we didn’t have to analyse - it was simple: ‘every match: he
plays’.
“Sometimes I wanted to give him a rest in a Carling Cup
match and he said ‘If you give me a rest the next match I will not be
the same, because I have to play every three days’.
“But now we have just to analyse the competition and make some choices.
“I
believe he is the same player but there is a difference. He is 35 and
the time needed to recover from match to match is not the same for a man
of 25 as a man of 35. That’s the only point. The happy ones: Frank Lampard and Jose Mourinho celebrate their 2005 title win
Getty
“So now we have to analyse the fixtures, to analyse the matches, to analyse the week we have and to make a few choices.”
Lampard
accepts he can no longer be Chelsea Duracell battery, although his
longevity has been incredible, breaking Bobby Tambling’s goals record
and setting a new mark that stands at 203, last season.
That was
another injury-disrupted campaign while Lampard is set to fly home on
Friday without featuring in any of Chelsea’s three games in the Far East
as he nurses an Achilles injury.
Mourinho added: “He can’t play
60 matches like he did before, but the quality of the player and what he
represents for the way I like to play football is exactly the same.
“He’s intelligent, he’s open, he has a very good relationship with me. He knows that I’m very experienced.
“And he knows what I did, for example, with Makelele here in the last two years of his spell at the club.
“He
knows I know how to do it with players of his age, because at the end
of the day we have to be just clever, because the player is the same.
“I
like players without looking at their birth certificates. Performance
determines how good you are, not your identity card or birth
certificate. It’s about performance, nothing else.”
One man whose
role is likely to be increased as Lampard is looked after is Brazilian
midfielder Ramires, who believes Chelsea must turn Stamford Bridge back
into a “fortress”. Ram the man: Ramires will likely be deputising more for Lampard this season
Jamie McDonald/Getty
The Blues famously did not lose a single home Premier League
match under Mourinho, who dropped just 28 points from 180 at the Bridge
during his spell in charge.
Last season alone, under two managers,
Chelsea dropped 16 points on their own manor and speaking at a Blue
Pitch coaching event in the Indonesian capital, Ramires admitted it had
to change.
“Over the last two seasons we lost too many games that
we should have won, especially at home,” said the Brazilian. “That hurt
us.
“I think it is very important to keep Mourinho’s record going.
Hopefully we can keep that up as players because it could make the
difference.
“Now I am excited to be playing for Mourinho and I hope that he stays for a long time.
“I
need a trainer who stays for a while and is allowed to continue with
his work rather than being asked to leave before he can establish his
working patterns.
“We want to win the league - and then title
after title. All competitions are important but winning the championship
demonstrates you are the best team. That is our aim.”
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