Frank
Lampard believes Liverpool's backroom staff broke football's touchline
"code" when he launched his foul-mouthed Anfield tirade at the opposition's
bench.
Champions Liverpool saw off Chelsea 5-3 on Merseyside on Wednesday night,
lifting the Premier League trophy afterwards and relishing in raucous
celebrations.
Lampard had launched a string of expletives at the Liverpool bench when
reacting to Sadio Mane winning the free-kick that led to Trent
Alexander-Arnold's first-half goal.
The Stamford Bridge boss later warned Liverpool not to "get too arrogant" in
interviews after the fiery clash, but insists he has no issues with Anfield
boss Jurgen Klopp, or the Reds' title celebrations.
Hinting at frustration with the involvement of Liverpool assistant Pep
Lijnders, Lampard explained his view that touchline dialogue ought to be
confined to just the two managers.
Asked to detail touchline etiquette, Lampard said: "What is the code? I
think when you speak between managers, and there are lots of decisions that
go and you can hear it more clearly now without the crowd. And lots of
managers will call for decisions and it may be right or wrong. And then you
speak with each other.
"But when people on the bench jump up and want to speak across to myself and
then smirk and smile and then continue to do so for quite a while; I think
that is past the code."
Lampard warned Liverpool not to become "arrogant" in his post-match
interviews at Anfield, sparking later defences from his counterpart Klopp
that the Reds remain grounded despite their successes.
Expanding on his arrogance comment, Lampard qualified his position by
focusing on respect.
"I think arrogance is a very important quality in terms of how you attack a
football match as a player, in terms of how you attack a football match as a
manager," said Lampard, ahead of Chelsea's final Premier League clash
against Wolves at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
"Because you will be full of expectations around you, criticism of anything
you do that might be seen as being wrong or not quite right.
"And if you don't have a level of arrogance in what you do, you can be
affected negatively and you might not be able to do your job as well.
"What I think also when you talk about arrogance is respect, and when you
are in a role at a club or whether you are talking about how benches work -
and I could speak to Jurgen Klopp all day and could fight the corner of a
decision or performance of a referee - what my feeling was the bench at
Liverpool, or one person in particular, was absolutely crossing that line so
that became arrogant to me."
Revealing his regret at his unsavoury language, Lampard insisted he has no
issue with Klopp.
"I haven't contacted Liverpool, I shook Jurgen Klopp's hand at the end and
said, 'well done' and I would easily have sat and had a beer with him and
congratulated him on what an incredible job he has done," said Lampard.
"I know how hard it is to win a Premier League, I know how much work goes
into it. He's been there four or five years and the journey and the work has
been incredible.
"He deserves everything. That was nothing to do with him. What happened on
the line can happen a fair bit."
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