Blues manager Frank Lampard has admitted that he is happy with the way things have gone about during the course of the preseason in Japan after Chelsea’s incredible 2-1 win over La Liga giants Barcelona and praised midfield gem Mateo Kovacic
Former England midfielder Frank Lampard returned to Chelsea at the start of the month but as a manager this time around and succeeded Maurizio Sarri. The 41-year-old has completed his first preseason tour with the club and that has ended in Japan with a rather impressive record drawing and losing one each and winning two games, with the latest win coming against Spanish champions Barcelona.
The Chelsea squad will now return to the UK and continue their preseason for another couple of weeks and Lampard seems quite content with the performances so far and has hailed a few players’ abilities before the season begins.
Croatian midfielder Mateo Kovacic signed for Chelsea on a permanent deal this summer after the 25-year-old had a rather underwhelming season on loan last term but Lampard has high expectations of the former Real Madrid star in the upcoming campaign.
When asked upon Kovacic’s impact over the last two games, Lampard responded and explained, “I thought he was outstanding in the first half. I really liked Kovacic last year and I watched him a lot. When you say he had a difficult season I kind of get that, but at the same time I saw lots of things in his game that I really like. What I found here on the tour from the first day he turned up is a hungry attitude, desire to work and incredible talent on the ball. I want to work with him and I want to help him to improve and improve. There’s so much talent there, I really like him. He was outstanding today and I’m really pleased. We know we’ve got numbers in the midfield area and I can’t help but be excited by some of the elements today and I think there’s more to come.”
