Chelsea’s Thursday night performance against Manchester City greatly solidified the Blues’ top four ambitions. He established a five-point gap with Manchester United in the place below, while closing the gap with Leicester City in third place just one point behind.
Among other notable items – *check notes and squint eyes* – Chelsea’s victory over Manchester City crowned Liverpool champions for the first time in 30 years and, quite amusingly, the first time in the Premier League era.
Much of the narrative and television coverage (certainly in the UK) surrounding tonight’s game revolved around Liverpool, much to Lampard’s dismay in the post-game questions. That said, Lampard was resolute and respectful, praising Liverpool for their well-deserved Premier League title.
“We congratulate Liverpool. This game didn’t decide the title, that was decided a long time ago through Liverpool’s consistency, performance and wins. Fair play for them, give them full credit. They have great players and a great coach. I know the hard work involved in trying to win a title, the competition they have, we saw it with how good Manchester City was tonight. Congratulations to them, they deserve it. “
Beyond Liverpool’s historic title, the match had serious implications regarding Chelsea’s ambitions to finish in the top four and qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Comparing his Chelsea squad to the elite level that Manchester City and Liverpool have shown in the past two seasons as title winners and title contenders, Lampard emphasized the need for consistency. If Chelsea wants to compete for the title in the near future, it will be essential to gather a constant series of positive performances.
“These are three important points for us, but we are in a battle here. It won’t be decided tonight. It is a good result that gives us confidence. Now, the consistency that we produce until the end of the season is what will define us this year and give us the finish we want. There is no point in doing this if we cannot get a boost and keep it going. That only comes with focus and hard work. ”
“I think we just have to look at ourselves and work. A result against City and a good performance tonight is a great feeling for us tonight, but the reason we didn’t accumulate enough points is because of the consistency of those two. “
“There is a clear gap and it will not happen overnight with one or two signings. There is much work to be done. Liverpool and City have been in progress for a few years and now they are having a lot of success, a little bit of success now. ”
Job.
Work work, job.
We’ve heard that title-winning managers emphasize this before. Antonio Conte said it repeatedly from the first day until the last day in Chelsea. It is a concept that will also have to be integrated into our current (young) team if we want to continue our rise to legitimate contenders.
“We had to work a lot off the ball, as you do with the Pep Guardiola and Manchester City teams. The way the boys showed work ethic and focus throughout the game. How dangerous we were. We had the best opportunities in the game. It is a good result that will give us confidence, but the consistency that we produce until the end of the season is what will define us this year if we want to obtain the finish that we want to have ”.
“I’m not getting carried away. We can improve We can be better on the ball. We may have more possession. It’s one of the only games where we didn’t have most of the possession, but we have to accept it tonight and be happy with the result. “
Christian Pulisic received applause from Lampard again after the game. The young American had an excellent performance in his first start since New Year’s Day. With two goals in two games in mid-June, Pulisic is gearing up for a very hot summer for Project Restart.
“Christian came last summer and he really didn’t have a break. When he joined the team he was doing very well and then he had a very hard injury. I wanted to protect him a bit against Villa and see if he could make an impact. He did that. “
“I always planned to start it against City because I know what it can bring to these types of games. He brought it in and did it very well. He is a young player, he is very talented and he needs to keep working. He can improve and improve. “
-Frank Lampard
Chelsea is away from Leicester City in the FA Cup quarterfinals this coming Sunday. Will #HotPulisicSummer continue?
