Lampard's Chelsea played 120 minutes and penalties on Wednesday night before 1-1 draw with Leicester on Super Sunday
Monday 19 August 2019 08:54, UK
Frank Lampard believes tiredness from Wednesday's Super Cup did play a part in Chelsea's drop in performance in the second half of their 1-1 draw with Leicester on Super Sunday.
Lampard's Chelsea flew back from Istanbul on Thursday following a penalty shootout defeat by Liverpool in the Super Cup the night before, and despite starting brightly in Lampard's Stamford Bridge homecoming, Wilfred Ndidi pegged them back in the second half.
Leicester could have easily won the match, and though Lampard will not put the performance solely down to tiredness, he could not deny it impacted his team.
"I hate the tiredness excuse, but it has to be a factor in the second half," said the Chelsea head coach. "I saw Liverpool play yesterday, and I know it would have been tough for them. 120 minutes, flight back the next day, up until five in the morning, so I think it did have an impact on us late in the game.
"But again, I think we're good enough to take that factor out and be better on the ball. I feel for the players a bit on that one, but still I don't want to use it as the overriding excuse."
Mason Mount had put Chelsea ahead after just seven minutes, but Ndidi's leveller means Lampard is still winless in his three games in charge.
Lampard reiterated both he and the players will need time to get it right this season.
He told Sky Sports: "We can only look at ourselves. I think today once the pressure came, we didn't have enough angles or options to keep the ball moving. We were camped in their half for the first 20, 25 minutes, but we need to be ready when the game changes, to grab it back.
"We need a bit of personality about us. We saw it in midweek but today we didn't quite have it. We have to improve, this is a process, and it will take time.
"I was under no illusions when I came here that there would be moments like this. It takes time to work to get to where we want to be, and that is thinking and working time."
Chelsea's transfer ban means Lampard could not buy players to bolster his squad in the summer.
The former Chelsea midfielder says the ban, along with Eden Hazard's departure for Real Madrid, has created difficult circumstances for this season, but again stopped short of using it as an excuse for the indifferent start.
"We know that in the circumstances there are some tough elements to this year. We couldn't bring players in, I couldn't bring in any players to help try and push the way I'm thinking. And we lost Eden, someone who is so pivotal to this club.
"So I think everyone is understanding of that, and will be patient, but again I don't want to use that as an excuse, because we can be better than we were for 60 minutes today, and we will be for sure."
Speaking on Super Sunday, Sky Sports' Graeme Souness believes Lampard has the most difficult job since Roman Abramovich arrived in 2003. Lampard is the 14th manager to take charge of Chelsea in that time.
"I think this is the most difficult job for a Chelsea manager since Roman Abramovich took over the club. The owner appears to have lost interest through circumstances not of his own making, but that's a factor I think.
"The transfer ban is also a major issue and losing arguably one of the best players in the world, or certainly the best player in the Premier League over the last five or six years, it's not easy.
"He needs time and you can't be judging Frank Lampard on what you see now, this is what he's inherited. There's not a lot wrong with them, just people being slightly different at vital times and scoring more goals."
