Chelsea’s coach, Frank Lampard was very pleased after he saw his team overcoming the difficulties posed by Sheffield United and beating them 4-1 over the weekend at Stamford Bridge.
He was very elated with the victory but didn’t forget to give a special mention about his Croatian midfielder, Mateo Kovacic’s performance in the match. The Blues conceded an early goal but made a quick turnaround to wrap up three crucial points in the Premier League and close the gap with league leaders Liverpool.
“When you think about our squad this year we have competition, as top teams generally do, and I need players that can lift the level and bring something different.”
That’s hard because every player wants to play all the time. Kova came in today and the midfield were great, the driving runs, opening spaces for others. It’s not easy when you’ve missed a few games to come in, but he played very well,” said Lampard in the Official Chelsea website.
Kovacic was recalled in the starting XI alongside Mason Mount and N’Golo Kante and the Croatian midfielder made a perfect assist in the game to Tammy Abraham.
The 26 years old former Real Madrid player was deployed to play box-to-box and he perfectly carried out his role. He played the second start of the season out of his previous eight fixtures.
The Chelsea coach acknowledged too the difficulty he faces to drop players but was certainly happy with the contribution he made in the game.
Chelsea’s system this season worked perfectly well with Kante being a holding midfielder behind Mount and Havertz but Kovacic’s playing as number 8 role was pinpoint. He showed plenty of energy to penetrate forward and had some beautiful touches on the ball.
