Chelsea’s manager-in-charge, Frank Lampard has stressed that football in England must only return when the league can assure complete safety of players. It is notable that Premier League is aspiring a June 12 return after being suspended for almost two months due to the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic.
For the same, all the Premier League clubs resumed distant training from May 18 this week. However, some players have also refused to train as they feel it is not safe for them amid the COVID-19 crisis to head to the training grounds. One of them is Chelsea’s midfield maestro, N’Golo Kante.
With one of his ace performers refusing to train, Frank Lampard has also stressed upon the fact that players’ safety should be the utmost concern for the management at this point of time.
Frank Lampard Opens Up On Resumption Of Premier League
Speaking to Football Focus on the BBC, Frank Lampard said, “All of us here we want to do it, it’s our job, we are very fortunate to have this job, to play football, and we want to finish it.”
“The feeling that you might be involved in a relegation battle or towards the top of the league, I think that is probably… we all felt that when we finished, we were so into it. But we have seen much more important things in the country and the world than football happen and I think that has been a bit of a reset for all of us,” Lampard added.
Safety Has To Come First: Frank Lampard
Frank Lampard took charge of training this week as his squad were allowed in groups of five while still social distancing.
The Chelsea boss added, “It’s been really good to get some work into the players. It means it is individual work, we can’t quite get enough hands-on around them because we have to toe the line but it is about seeing how things go.”
“Safety has to come first. Once we get over Phase One, see what Phase Two looks like and beyond that, then we can think about getting the games back, albeit behind-closed-doors. What remains is we want to play football and what remains of this season, but as you say the most important thing is when it is safe and healthy for players and staff,” Lampard further said.
Empty stadiums, distant celebrations, masked substitutes, and the sound of the ball piercing the net, that’s how European football marked its return when Bundesliga continued their campaign after a break of almost two months because of the coronavirus outbreak globally.