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Frank Lampard insists that the decision to include Petr Cech in Chelsea’s Premier League squad more than a year after his retirement is based on common sense and not romance.
The inclusion of Cech was confirmed when Lampard savored the relief of a clean sheet against Sevilla in the Champions League.
It was his first goalless draw since taking over at Stamford Bridge and the perfect response to criticism leveled at his defensive unit and goalkeepers this season.
“It’s definitely not for romance,” Lampard said, when asked about Cech.
‘Pete has been training with goalies for a while. He is very fit and still relatively young. Pete finished playing when he probably could have gone on and assumed his role at Chelsea, which he does very well.
“We had a space in the team and this year is like no other because of Covid and what he could do with the selection and isolation. So it was easy. Pete will still do his day job, but he’s there if we need him.
Whether we will see it or not, I’m not so sure. It depends on how the season goes with Covid and isolations. I certainly felt like it was a no-brainer to have Pete on the team for that reason and he can only help the goalies we have. It is one of the best in the world in the modern era.
“If we are in crisis, we could not ask for anything better than to have Petr Cech close by. I don’t expect it, but nobody expected what we’ve seen in the last six or seven months around the world. ‘
Cech is a Chelsea legend and hero of their 2012 Champions League triumph. He retired in May 2019 and returned to Stamford Bridge from Arsenal to take on the role of technical performance advisor.
At 38, he is eight months younger than Willy Caballero, who was on the bench against Sevilla, and the idea of his inclusion as emergency cover in the Premier League team was first raised before Edouard Mendy. will arrive for 22 million pounds from Rennes in September.
The theory was reinforced when Ukraine was forced to bench a 45-year-old coach in a friendly against France because suddenly three goalkeepers had been ruled out by the coronavirus.
Mendy returned to goal against Sevilla after injury excluded him from Saturday’s 3-3 draw against Southampton, looking confident and confident. Thiago Silva’s return to center defense also helped Chelsea look more solid at the rear.
“Thiago showed his experience and qualities,” said Lampard. ‘Mendy probably has a save to make and he pulls it off, and he was good with his feet.
“It was a very good defensive performance organized against a very good team and I am satisfied with that. It feels good, it’s something you always fight for.
“When you play at the Champions League level, you have a lot of work on the defensive side. We cannot complain that there are no goals. We have already scored a lot of goals in the Premier League. We will score goals. A clean sheet is the great advantage of the night.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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