In a candid chat with the press, Mourinho mentioned that he is aware of the fact that he won’t get the service of Frank Lampard for the entire season although they have agreed to extend Super Frank’s contract for another year.
The 35-year old veteran remains Chelsea’s all time record goal scorer, with a tally of 203 goals in 608 appearances for the Blues. And a contract extension interprets that Mourinho is keen to squeeze the best out of him while he can. But it is understood that the Portuguese manager is experienced enough to use the veteran in crucial fixtures when the team will need Lampard the most.
In his first spell at Chelsea, Mourinho got the service of this dynamic midfielder constantly and with Lampard as one of the piers of his team, Mourinho won back-to-back league titles in 2004-05, 2005-06 and FA Cup in 2006-07. Needless to mention, that era was Mourinho’s first reign at Stamford Bridge and the most talked about one till date.
Mourinho said: “I believe he is the same player, with the difference of, he is 35 and the time to recover from match to match is not the same for a man of 25 to a man of 35.
“The role doesn’t have to change. What has to change is the way we analyse competition. Before we didn’t analyse, before it was ‘every match: he plays’.
“Sometimes I wanted to give him a rest in a Carling Cup match and he said ‘if you give me a rest the next match I will not be the same, because I have to play every three days’.
“He can’t play 60 matches like he did before, but the quality of the player and what he represents for the way I like to play football is exactly the same.”
Whereas Mourinho approached his concern for Lampard, alongside he has started his dubious tactical game. When all the Chelsea fans are overwhelmed to welcome him as their manager again when the league kicks-off on August 18th, he has cast his of vote to Manchester City as a probable League Winner. Quoted by ESPN, Mourinho said:
“I know the players City have bought and they are players without surprises. They are more than ready. If you see their ages, their maturity, they are in the perfect moment of their career to go to England,” he said. “They have no need for adaptation, no need of work to learn the project. They are players at the top of their careers, experienced but still young, so I think they’ve bought very, very well.”
Adding to that, much to the Blues’ fans woe, he condemned his young team as an underdog this season.
Mourinho added, “So of course people should be expecting more of them, with their experience, than my young team. Young players are not at the best they will be. They need to learn, they need time to get to the top.”
As we all know Mourinho, its a part of his mind games!