Frank Lampard has sent a message to Kai Havertz, Timo Werner and Christian Pulisic about what they need to become top-level players amid tough periods at Chelsea.
There are moments in football when certain players could win games, even when the rest of their team were not performing well.
Chelsea had that type of players in Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Eden Hazard, just to name a few examples.
Since Hazard’s departure in 2019, they have never really had a player who could do that consistently.
But it is not for the want of trying that Chelsea have not been able to find a replacement for the Belgium international.
Pulisic arrived immediately after Hazard left, while Havertz and Werner were brought in as the two most sought after Bundesliga talents last summer.
The trio are Chelsea’s biggest attacking investments in the last few years, and unsurprisingly, the ones they count on to produce those match-winning moments.
Lampard feels the same as he sent a message to the three players about the difficult road to becoming top-level players.
Havertz, Werner and Pulisic could become elite players, but it is ‘down to them’ according to Lampard, and he wants them to step up and help the club out of a difficult period.
“When you’re a squad that’s growing, young, new and players are coming in, those are the moments that test them and make them better players,” he told the reporters in his press conference on Friday (Chelsea’s official YouTube channel).
“I can’t sit here and say I have absolute belief that Kai Havertz, Timo Werner and Christian Pulisic are going to be top level players as they reach and arrive at the prime of their careers.
“If I said it’s going to be an easy run for them, it’s impossible in football.
“So I have to be the one [who] keeps their chin up, keeps them working, and [helps them] understand the reactions needed in tough moments.
“And the rest is down to them.
“Because players are always going to be the ones that get you out of those moments, they have to go and perform.”
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