FRANK LAMPARD says Chelsea deserve reward for placing Declan Rice on the highway to stardom.
The England midfielder, 21, skippers West Ham tomorrow towards the membership that confirmed him the door when he was simply 14.
Frank Lampard believes Chelsea deserve credit score for Declan Rice’s progressCredit score: Getty Photographs – Getty
Rice will skipper West Ham towards the aspect that launched him as a 14 yr previousCredit score: Rex Options
And all eyes might be on a participant with an £80million price ticket, who has been strongly linked with a Stamford Bridge return for greater than a yr.
Blues boss Lampard — who left the Hammers for West London when he was 23 — reckons Rice solely acquired the place he’s now due to seven years grounding at Chelsea.
He mentioned: “Declan is now taking part in at such a excessive degree at West Ham, and generally when gamers go on their different paths, the membership also needs to take some credit score for producing them.
“You see everywhere in the Premier League and the Championship there are many gamers who got here by means of the Chelsea system in order that’s an actual constructive for us.”
Chelsea will kick off only a level forward of their London rivals following successive losses at Everton and Wolves.
However Lamps is extra inclined to pat his gamers on the again than boot them up the bottom as a result of everybody has been dropping factors.
He mentioned: “We acquired punished as a result of we dropped our ranges by 15 or 20 per cent and on this league that occurs.
“It’s clear the arrogance has to stay as a result of we had been taking part in very effectively and the desk could be very tight on the high. We’re a lot nearer than we had been to the highest final yr, so we simply have to remind ourselves of all the good issues we had been doing earlier than the losses.”
Lampard added: “The realism now’s that we aren’t a Liverpool of final yr, or a Man Metropolis of the yr earlier than who simply go win, win, win — we’re in a development and must be prepared for some robust moments.
“That’s why I stored speaking about us two or three weeks in the past when everybody was speaking about how we must always win the league.
“My reasoning for placing a dampener on that was there are different groups which have been collectively longer, which brings a confidence amongst a gaggle the place they’ll cope with issues higher in video games.
“It’s a part of the place our development is at, now we have some youthful gamers and as time goes on they are going to get stronger in these moments. That’s why it’s important to take classes while you lose.”
