Chelsea coach, Frank Lampard spoke about how his expensive young winger, Kai Havertz needs time to get settled and have a bright career at Stamford bridge. Lampard says that there have been many players who started at Chelsea and didn’t do much, changed their clubs and again returned to the Premier League to establish themselves as one of the best.
Those players had the potential and if only they would have shown patience, the club could have reaped the benefits. He tells this to point out that not only did those players have what it takes to become a star but also they showed how they need time to get adapt before becoming what they are today.
That is what Lampard wants to convey in order to protect his player Kai Havertz from series of criticism. Kai Havertz moved from Bayer Leverkusen at a tender age in a big-money move and since then he has just scored 4 goals in all competitions. Moreover, he was affected badly by COVID-19 lately.
Lampard considers that comparing the level of scrutiny in this footballing period on a teenager like Havertz isn’t comparable to the days of his footballing career. The pressure that comes with the price tag is huge.
‘My pressure was not really anywhere near theirs, particularly Kai because of the price tag and what came with that, the modern world of expectation and social media and everything that goes with it. It is ramped up completely since my era,’ he says as per the Official Chelsea website.
‘Moving country, missing pre-season. I say it a lot but Kai only had about five work days with us before he played and that is just not beneficial for a player in any league, let alone when you are coming to the fastest, most physical league in the world.
‘Then, just as Kai was really coming to terms with it, I thought he had some really good performances, he got Covid and he had Covid quite severely. I’ve read a few things now about how people can really suffer with this and he has definitely had a bit of a fallout from that physically. It is something we are trying to help him deal with.
‘So with the expectations around him, you have to put context to the story. Kai’s talent is undoubted, I see it every day. Giving him the time to adapt to the Premier League and to our team is crucial. We have seen players come here in the past that didn’t really adapt and went elsewhere and then came back to the Premier League and lit it up to unbelievable levels.
‘I am not trying to compare Kai to that directly but there are so many stories across the Premier League, not just at Chelsea. I have full belief in him and we need to give him that time, particularly because of Covid. That is an issue that is related beyond his illness.’
The Chelsea coach also emphasizes the fact that Havertz didn’t have any proper pre-season training and just when he looked like hitting the ground, he caught the pandemic virus that affected him not only physically but also mentally. Moreover, adapting to the fastest and most physical league in the world became difficult for the 21 years old German.
‘When Kai came I was excited to take on that challenge with him, of how this league is going to be different and let’s see how you can adapt because your talents are different too in a really positive way and can help us.
‘Something as a coach I know I can rely on is personal experience when it mirrors up slightly and I know I had to do extra work myself [when joining Chelsea]. Kai is different from me but particularly with the knockback of Covid now, we need to give him time to do that extra work that we are doing with him now. It will make him better and stronger in the end and we need to remember he is a young player as well so even more reason to give him time.’
Manager Frank Lampard believes that Kai is a generational talent and if he is given more time to adapt, he could become a huge weapon for Chelsea.
