Lampard eager to have French World Cup star back in action
Chelsea Manager Frank Lampard is currently achieving good results thanks to impressive performance from his players, namely Tammy Abraham ,Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic among others, but the former Chelsea legend is still eager to have Mali born defensive midfielder, N’Golo Kante back in full action.
N’Golo Kante according to Lampard is ready to reclaim his place in the starting line-up despite Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic’s impressive form.
Kante has endured a frustrating start to the season as he has been restricted to just six appearances in all competitions after suffering an ankle injury.
However, the Frenchman was an unused substitute in Chelsea’s incredible 4-4 draw at home to Ajax on Tuesday night, and Lampard is looking forward to being able to call upon Kante again.
Lampard told talkSPORT: ‘I think firstly he’s a fantastic player, when I came in I was so excited to work with him. He’s world class and I need him, no doubt. It’s brilliant for us all that he’s back. He’s had little niggles; now we’ve got him hopefully looking good.’
Against Ajax, Lampard started with a midfield trio of Jorginho, Kovacic and Mason Mount.
Lampard suggested that it is possible to play Kante, Jorginho and Kovacic together, with all three players capable of adapting to different tasks in midfield
He said: ‘You can. I think one thing we have done is try to be adaptable. All of them, even Mason, they can all do lots of parts of the midfield game. They can all do a lot, whoever I pick; you like to think they’ll give you a good performance.’
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Jorginho and Kovacic came in for a considerable amount of criticism in some quarters last season, but both players have excelled under Lampard’s guidance in the early stages of this campaign.
Chelsea return to Premier League action on Saturday when they host Crystal Palace, and it will be intriguing to see which midfield combination Lampard chooses for that fixture.