• Chelsea manager stresses selection will remain on form
• ‘Frank is a player who is not available at any price’
André Villas-Boas has described his relationship with Frank Lampard as “fantastic”, though he has stressed that team selection at Chelsea will continue to be based upon form rather than reputation.
Lampard, one of the players deemed “untouchable” by the former manager José Mourinho and a veteran of 535 games at the club, found himself on the bench for the key fixtures against Valencia, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur last month. That led to some frustration from the 33-year-old, who claimed not to have spoken to Villas-Boas about the issue.
Yet, with LA Galaxy monitoring the player’s potential availability in the summer, Villas-Boas has insisted the England midfielder remains a key part of his plans “for the long term” even if no one will be considered an automatic selection for the team. “Our relationship is fantastic,” said Villas-Boas. “Frank is a player who is not available at any price.
“He is not ‘in and out in rotation’. There is no such thing here. We decide on an XI which is strong for a particular game, and that can help us in the strategy to win that game. Frank has been decisive in the last couple of games [against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Portsmouth] with the timing of his arrival in the box to solve problems for the team. Has he spoken to me about it? We speak every day. We see each other every day.”
Lampard’s goal in the FA Cup third-round defeat of Portsmouth on Sunday was his 10th of the campaign, suggesting he remains a threat from midfield, though the player has always said that his best form is generated by a regular run in the side. While he will hope to begin Saturday’s visit of Sunderland to Stamford Bridge, he has made four starts in the past seven Premier League matches, with his omission in the bigger games through December notable.
“Every player wants to find that consistency and playing time,” Villas-Boas said. “You read what [Florent] Malouda said recently about that, too. It’s normal everybody wants to be involved. Frank, with the player he is and the history he represents, wants to be involved all the time, but every player is competing for a place. I’ve said the same all season, even when Frank had more playing time and others didn’t. Everyone is fighting to be in it, and a player of Frank’s level has a shorter distance to travel to be in the team than others.
“He did previously start at [Manchester] United and against Liverpool and Arsenal, and Valencia away. His talent is not in doubt. But we decide what will be best for the team. Players have different characteristics and your strategy depends on how you want to play the game. Other players might be better placed in certain games, or players might be in better form than others. We try different options at times, but Frank is the [joint] sixth most-used starter at Chelsea in the league this season, so he’s involved all the time.”
Villas-Boas is charged with revitalising Chelsea’s playing squad, a task that has been necessitated by an ageing staff with many up and down the spine of the first-team having featured since Mourinho’s time at the club. Lampard remains one of the team’s modern-day talismans, granting his omission for certain matches greater resonance among supporters. “But what the fans demand is instant success, and success in terms of trophies,” Villas-Boas said. “Liverpool have been wanting to get back to winning the Premier League for some time, and they don’t have Ian Rush, [Kenny] Dalglish and [Alan] Hansen
