Kovacic Reveals Lampard’s ‘Clear Idea’ for Chelsea in First Meeting with Players

Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic discussed what Frank Lampard said to the players during the first team meeting after taking over as caretaker manager.

Lampard’s return was confirmed by the Blues on Thursday, and the caretaker manager immediately began preparing for Saturday’s game against Wolves.

While Lampard is familiar with some of the players from his previous stint, the majority of the squad was not at the club when he left in 2021.

Lampard has made it clear what he wants from the team, according to Kovacic, one of the team’s veterans.

“We know him, he was our coach, so it’s good news that he’s back and trying to change our season because it hasn’t been good, to be honest,” the Croatia international said of Lampard.

“In the end, it’s easier to fire a coach than 30 players, but it’s on us to do better, and we have to thank [Graham] Potter who did a good job, but it’s not easy with so many changes, so it was a difficult situation for him.”

“We had a quick meeting, and he [Lampard] explained to us what he wants for the rest of the season.”

“We have another chance to climb as high as we can in the table, and we have two beautiful games against Real Madrid, so there is a chance to finish the season well, and we should take it.”

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“He has a clear idea of what he expects from us, but it’s still day one and we’ll see what he asks of us on the pitch, so it’s difficult to predict how he’ll be.”

It will be interesting to see what formation Lampard will use this weekend, especially since Kovacic stated that he had no idea what to expect.

Under Potter, this Chelsea team primarily used a back-three formation, but Lampard prefers a four-man defense.

There is arguably insufficient time to prepare any significant tactical changes, but relying on the previous system, which had not worked particularly well, also does not make sense.