Mourinho adamant Lampard still a key player

July 25, 2013
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Frank LampardReturning Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has confirmed that he still regards club icon Frank Lampard as a key member of the squad.

The veteran midfielder, who ultimately agreed to sign a one-year extension on his contract, has played a key role during Mourinho’s first spell at Stamford Bridge.

Having also impressed in the second part of last season after being initially benched by Rafael Benitez, Lampard is tipped to keep his place in the starting line-up.

The Portuguese manager is adamant the 35-year-old is still integral to his plans, although he has hinted the midfielder will not be playing two games a week as he is used to.

“I believe he is the same player, with the difference of, he is 35 and the time to recover from match to match is not the same for a man of 25 to a man of 35.

“The role doesn’t have to change. What has to change is the way we analyse competition. Before we didn’t analyse, before it was ‘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’.

“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.”

Lampard is 6.00 (5/1) with BetVictor to be Chelsea’s top league goalscorer, while the Blues are 3.25 (9/4) favourites with Coral to win the Premier League title.

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