Some Chelsea fans will have raised an eyebrow when Lampard decided to bring Tariq Lamptey on against Arsenal on Sunday. The 19-year-old was making his debut, and the Blues were chasing the game.
However, the young full-back restored the faith shown in him and produced an impressive performance. He completed 100% of his tackles, had a 100% passing success rate, and won possession back three times in his limited time on the pitch.
The performance of Lamptey certainly got some fans talking, and they were not the only ones impressed. The Chelsea boss was also keen to praise him after the victory against Arsenal. As reported by the club website, Lampard said: ”We felt it was the right time to bring him into the game and he was a catalyst because we were getting down the sides and he gave us a little bit more of an edge.
”He has pace, a low centre of gravity and can go by people. He wants to work on his end product but my question to Jody when he came on was has he got the confidence and the personality to deal with this.
”It is a tough game to come on with the responsibility to try to turn it, and Jody said yeah, no problem, and when he drove inside and slipped Tammy in for a shot, it was a great example of someone coming on a bit fearless and sometimes you get that with youth.”
Lamptey is the latest in what seems like a never-ending line of academy graduates making first-team appearances this season. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see how Lampard works him and Reece James into the same squad.
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