It has been one crazy week in the life of Chelsea Football Club and it’s fans.
We have seen a club legend sacked one day, to be replaced by former Dortmund and PSG master tactician Thomas Tuchel the next, and in amongst that many reports of various player unrest at the club under Lampard.
‘Until next time Frank’, read Chelsea insider Dan MacCarthy’s tribute to Frank Lampard HERE!
The Telegraph were actually one of the sources to report on it, pointing towards clashes between captain Cesar Azpilicueta and Antonio Rudiger in particular.
But wisely, and also as reported ironically by The Telegraph again, Azpilicueta has provided some words of solace, unity, and denies there have been any player bust-ups in the camp.
“It is great that this now gets squashed and the only way is to move forward and on with these reports. Results on the pitch is what matters, regardless of the speculation about what happened and what didn’t happen during the Lampard reign.
“It’s not our job to be part of that [manager sackings] or not, we just accept decisions from the owner, from the board and we are all together now working with the new manager, with the new ideas, with the new staff.
“I’m not the one who decides that [who is manager]. We play for Chelsea and the owner and the board, they decide what they think is better for the team and, me, as a player and in this case as a captain, we take the decisions that they make and we move forwards.
“It’s always sad to see a manager leaving halfway through the season because it means that the results or the performances are not good and the club decides to change the manager, and we know that we have to move quickly.
“When the new manager arrives, we all have to be open, we all start from zero, we have to give everything and now we have an exciting four months ahead, where we have a lot to play for and, hopefully, we can achieve what we want.
“We saw that [in the past] and sometimes when a manager leaves, people can blame some players but we are players, we are humans and we always want to do the best for the club, for the manager.
“That’s our job, that’s our passion and obviously we are not happy when results are not going well and sometimes, yes, we have seen the reaction from the fans but there is no issue. We are all together working.
“You see now social media, lots of abuse, you know we are doing campaigns about racism, all of this, and you know it’s sad when you see people abusing. The fans I ask for unity, together, difficult times. We want the best for the team and, hopefully, this negativity we can leave it behind and we go together. We miss the fans, so we would like to be together fighting in these tough moments like we have always done. We always overcome the difficulties.
“When results are not going well, everybody has more tension around, but nothing further than this. Normal footballers like normal workers in their offices or with other jobs with pressure who have to deliver and nothing further than this. There is not an issue, we are so committed.
“There is no doubt about the unity of the group. Obviously, when things are not going well there are things that come out but we are strong altogether, experienced players, young players, you know. Now, for some, it’s the first time they live through a change of manager. When results come, everybody will get more positive and, hopefully, when we end the season with the targets, everybody will be happy.
“Everybody in the dressing-room, we are all together and we are fully committed at this stage and the dressing room is strong and together to fight for everything.”
