Frank Lampard has been speaking to the media after Chelsea’s impressive 2-1 win over Barcelona, and one of the players who came up in the conversation was Mateo Kovacic.
Like all of these friendly games, things tend to fall apart in the second half when slews of substitutions get made. But until that point, Kovacic was perhaps the most impressive player out there. Alongside Jorginho in the middle of Chelsea’s 4231 he set the tempo and the press, and was generally more involved and more active than we saw under Maurizio Sarri last season.
Lampard, when asked about what impact the summer signing can make, was clearly impressed, not only by how he did today but generally by his progress at Chelsea:
https://twitter.com/ChelseaLoanArmy/status/1153672003141824512
He seems to be really keen to get rid of the image that the Croat picked up last year – that of being a bit of a careful and boring player at times. He already looked dynamic again today, and with more time and N’Golo Kante back in the team, he can really afford to let go and get into dangerous areas.
