Frank
Lampard hailed Jorginho as a leader for Chelsea's young players to look up
to after his penalty helped the Blues to a 2-0 win over Brighton on
Saturday.
Jorginho converted coolly from the spot after Mason Mount was fouled by Adam
Webster soon after half-time at Stamford Bridge, with Willian's deflected
strike completing Chelsea's first home win under Lampard.
The midfielder was a divisive figure among supporters last season, his close
relationship with Maurizio Sarri coming under scrutiny, but he has kept his
place in the Chelsea team under Lampard and the manager is delighted with
his contribution on and off the pitch.
"He's a leader in his personality," said Lampard. "Whatever happened last
year, I wasn't here. For whatever reason, people will make judgements, but
all I can judge is what I see in front of me and from pre-season he has been
one of the leaders, clearly, in the dressing room and on the pitch.
"He wants to win, and I know that should be the basics and it is the basics
for everyone, but to show it in everything you do is important. He does
that, so I'm pleased with Jorgie and the young players need to look up to
that attitude he has daily."
Chelsea's academy graduates have been the stars of their season so far, but
Lampard believes the progress of their young players owes a lot to their
more experienced team-mates.
"The kids are playing because they deserve to, because I don't really
consider age, but they will also always need that experienced player around
them," he said.
"You talk about Jorginho, the coolness of head to score the penalty. You
talk about Willian, who not only created chances for himself and got his
goal, but his work ethic was fantastic today.
"Those are the standards. Some of the experienced players set those
standards and the youngsters must follow."
Chelsea were wasteful with their finishing at times but Lampard, who also
confirmed that Jorginho is the first-choice penalty taker following recent
confusion, was relieved that they overcame the frustration of the first half
to clinch his first win in charge at Stamford Bridge.
"We want to strive to be the best that we can be and the home games have
been frustrating so far, for different reasons. Not that we've played
terribly, it just hasn't happened for us.
"But today was a nice one. You could almost feel the frustration at
half-time, not because we had had a poor half but because the ball hadn't
gone in the back of the net.
"My message to the players at half-time was not to get despondent, not to
feel flat, not to get sloppy, which we did at moments in the first half.
"So yes, I was frustrated. Because of the no home win yet, I suppose you
fear the worst, obviously. But there was a different feel today. The ball
moved quickly, it looked good.
"Mason [Mount] was moving it quickly, Willy was getting his shots away and
moving people, Tammy [Abraham] was all-action.
"I felt it was coming and it was important to say that to the players and
send them back out because they deserved something to drop and the penalty
was the moment."
Chelsea were without N'Golo Kante, who was left out as a precaution, but
Lampard confirmed the midfielder has a chance of being fit to face Lille in
the Champions League in midweek.
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