Frank Lampard, who blossomed to become one of the best midfielders of his time under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, has always maintained a special relationship with his old manager. However, one of Mourinho’s old comments did not seem to go down well with the current Chelsea manager.
Talking about a time in 2014 when Mourinho commented that Lampard’s “love story” with Chelsea was over after the former scored a goal against the Blues in a Premier League game playing for Manchester City.
The former England international had plied his trade in City following his departure from Chelsea after spending 13 years. Lampard spent one year with City before moving to the Major League Soccer (MLS) club New York City FC.
“At the time I didn’t feel it was quite right, I have to say that. It was directly after the match and sometimes the emotions of the match can affect the comment or type of comment,” Lampard was quoted as saying by Gaol.com.
The 41-year-old former Derby County manager also clarified his reason for joining Manchester City and said it was hard for him to think about not playing any football.
“I wondered at 36 whether a year there was something I should take on because of what I feel about this club. And then my professional head, the challenge of it and the period I had where I wasn’t going to be playing before going to New York FC, all came together and made me take a decision which was quite tough at the time,” Lampard said to the reporters at Chelsea’s Cobham Training Centre.
Lampard also spoke about the love the fans are expressing towards him in his managerial stint and said, “The bigger picture on that one for me is the love story or not is probably always decided by the fans and the club. It has proven now I am here managing the club but even then I think a lot of people understood how I felt about Chelsea, always did, always will do, regardless of the year at Manchester City.”
Interestingly, Chelsea and Manchester United are scheduled to face each other in a 13th round match of the ongoing English Premier League on Saturday at the Etihad Stadium.