Frank Lampard was on Sky’s new studio-less Premier League football show this week, discussing various things regarding his first full season as a Premier League manager.
The Chelsea boss was in the middle of overseeing an impressive transition from an aging and misshapen squad to a new era when the whole thing was called to a halt, and speaking to Sky he compared the trajectory of his team to that which Liverpool and Man City had taken in recent years.
“I don’t want to jump the gun because what Liverpool and Manchester City have done has been clear; I’d be a fool to suggest we can bridge that gap quickly because there has been a lot of hard work at those clubs in terms of recruitment of top players, of great coaches,” the gaffer said in quotes featured on Eurosport.
“We have to be part of that process. We have to do it our way, we can’t try to copy. We have had experienced players around this year to help the youngsters but we know there are little areas within the squad… some of that’s what we have on the ground here already, some of that is how we might look to recruit.”
Now while Lampard isn’t one to demand money being spent, this sounds a lot like a gentle push for some moves whenever the window reopens.
Certainly that’s not an unreasonable request, given how little the club as a whole has spent in the last few years. And if we do actually want to catch the top teams which are currently leaving us in the dust, some serious (but also intelligent) investment will unquestionably be needed.
Let’s hope this hiatus gives the club even more time than necessary to pick the players we need to take us up a level next season.
