Newcastle United dominated the Premier League last season, finishing a remarkable 27 points ahead of Chelsea. Frank Lampard, the former Chelsea boss, acknowledged that the Magpies were a ‘motivated’ and ‘driven’ team with ‘more desire’ than his own side. Lampard, who took charge of Chelsea for the final seven weeks of the season, faced Newcastle in his last game as manager. Despite Newcastle securing a Champions League spot early on, Chelsea ended the season a significant 27 points behind them, marking Chelsea’s worst-ever Premier League campaign.
After a 1-1 draw with Newcastle, Lampard expressed a ‘strong opinion’ about Chelsea’s lack of ‘physical competitiveness’ compared to the Magpies during his tenure. Reflecting on those comments nearly six months later, Lampard shared on the Obi One podcast that when he joined Chelsea, he sensed something was amiss. Many players had not played, harbored discontent with the club and the former manager, contributing to a challenging environment.
“In the run-up to my arrival, we went to Wolves, who were fighting relegation; we went to Real Madrid, who are Real Madrid; we had Brighton at home in the middle; and then Real Madrid came to us.” I believe we played Brentford before heading to Arsenal, who were fighting for the league title at the time.
“At the end of the season, we had Manchester United, Manchester City, and Newcastle.” All of these squads are focused and driven, and they were not present for the club throughout that time period.
“I came away with a lot of insight.” I didn’t learn anything in terms of tactics. For me, it was not a tactical period.
If you have not got motivation and that desire, things won’t matter because others have got more desire than you.”
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