Lampard unsatisfied with top-four finish
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Frank Lampard, with defender Antonio Rudiger, has steered Chelsea to fourth place in his first season as coach. It is the highest finish for an English manager in his debut Premier League campaign since Frank Clark led Nottingham Forest to third position in 1994-95.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
LONDON • Chelsea manager Frank Lampard said the Blues "have to be careful getting excited by top-four finishes" and will be looking to close the gap on Liverpool and Manchester City next season.
Chelsea sealed a Champions League place after a 2-0 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday. The Blues had not ended a round of fixtures outside the top four since Oct 6.
Chelsea can cap an encouraging first season in charge for Lampard if they can beat Arsenal in the FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday. They also have to face Bayern Munich in the Champions League last 16 but trail 3-0 from the first leg ahead of the trip to Germany next month.
"I suppose at Chelsea we have to be careful getting excited by top-four finishes, but coming into the job, I don't think a lot of people put us in that bracket," Lampard told Sky Sports. "We know where we are at, it is a progress and can we get better? And now we've secured top four can we look to improve to close that gap?
"The gap is there for a reason and there because Manchester City and Liverpool have taken it to different levels."
Chelsea lost 12 times in the league for only the second time since Roman Abramovich became owner in 2003. And Lampard knows his team's inconsistent spells must be cut out to have any chance of closing the 33-point gap to Liverpool.
He has already strengthened his squad, with new German striker Timo Werner, signed from Leipzig for next season, watching in a mask in the Stamford Bridge stands. Lampard has also secured the signature of Ajax playmaker Hakim Ziyech, with reports suggesting he is considering moves for Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak, West Ham midfielder Declan Rice and Bayer Leverkusen's Kai Havertz.
Intriguingly, he dropped Kepa Arrizabalaga as Argentinian veteran Willy Caballero started in goal. Error-prone Kepa, linked with a close-season move, has struggled to live up to his price tag as the world's most expensive goalkeeper since the Spaniard's £71.6 million (S$126.9 million) transfer from Athletic Bilbao in 2018.
"What we've done this season is take the opportunity to bring in the younger players and improve the existing players," Lampard said.
"The challenge now is to see what more we can do next season."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
