Frank
Lampard says his new role as Chelsea head coach will be the biggest
challenge of his career.
The 41-year-old was appointed on Thursday after impressing in his first year
in management by leading Derby to the Sky Bet Championship play-off final
last season.
Lampard is Chelsea's record goalscorer, having played for the Blues for 13
years, and represented England 106 times, but asked if his new role in the
Stamford Bridge dugout would be the greatest challenge of his career, he
said: "Yes.
"My playing career is done - great memories and challenges along the way. I
always loved a challenge. Coming here 19 years ago was a challenge.
"I remember driving home with the radio on and some people were questioning
whether I should be here for £11m. I worked really hard to try and put that
right and now I'm going to work really hard to be successful as a manager
here.
"When I started out in management I thought last year was a challenge. I
don't want credit for my playing career; I should be judged on what I do
here."
Lampard also admitted that he understood people would question whether he
has enough experience to manage a club of Chelsea's size and that it was up
to him to prove any doubters wrong.
"I thought about it a lot," he added. "One year in professional management
and you get the Chelsea job - that doesn't come around very often.
"I played under a lot of fantastic managers, so that stands me in good
stead. I've had one year at Derby where I learnt a lot and I know about this
club; I know how it works.
"But I have to prove that. I'm ready for that. I believe in myself
completely and I want to prove I'm ready to manage this club."
Lampard takes charge of Chelsea at a challenging time for the club, with
star player Eden Hazard having been sold to Real Madrid and a two-window
registration ban imposed by FIFA preventing them signing new players.
However, Lampard insists there is no reason the Blues cannot repeat last
season's achievement of finishing in the Premier League top four, saying:
"There's a lot of competition at the top of the league, but we have a very
strong squad.
"I don't want to talk down this squad because there's huge talent there.
It's a team that managed to come third last year and win the Europa League.
We haven't been decimated.
"I know what is expected and I understand that's where we should be."
Chelsea's inability to add new players to their squad this summer may force
them to rely more heavily on some of the young players who have been in
their academy or on loan at other clubs.
However, that is something Lampard says he is willing to embrace, adding:
"We have a very strong squad and great young players that have the talent to
be huge players for this club. Part of my job will be to get that out of
them.
"The academy have been doing great work for years, so it would be remiss for
me to come in and say I'm not going to look at that."
Lampard will be assisted at Chelsea by Jody Morris, the former Chelsea
midfielder and youth coach who worked with him at Derby. Gianfranco Zola,
who was number two to Lampard's predecessor Maurizio Sarri, has left the
club.
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