Joe Cole backs Frank Lampard to bring the good times back to Chelsea

Joe Cole, legend to many and hero to all, is here to hype up the upcoming season and say nice things about Chelsea FC. As youth coach at the club when not moonlighting for BT Sport, that should come as no surprise.

So speaking with talkSPORT, Cole expressed a strong positive outlook for Frank Lampard and the mood around the club.

“Frank has got many things in his favour and one of those is being a club legend. He’s got other attributes as a man and manager in that he can deal with any type of dressing room, any type of character. Nobody knows the club like him and the intricacies of it. He’s in a perfect position to sort it out.”

Cole has the unique position of having played with Lampard and having experienced some of the highest of highs in the club’s history. He knows what a winning team is like, having been a part of three Premier League-winning seasons. That sort of winning culture should come from the top, and Cole sees Lampard’s return to the club as step towards bringing back those attitudes of yesteryear.

But Cole also sees Lampard as the man who can bring forth a much-needed change to the club’s identity, building from within towards a more stable and sustainable way of doing things.

It will be a daunting task for Lampard who will need to do all that while also guiding the club through the FIFA-imposed transfer and the loss of Eden Hazard.

“He’s galvanised the club. No one would have asked for the club to be handed a transfer ban, but it’s allowed them to take a step back [...] The culture is fine in the sense we’re a successful team but there can be improvements made. We need to use this time now to blood the youngsters, get a settled side, settled staff, settled fan base.

“You need harmony in a team to win things and if you can achieve that then next summer go and get the right players and add to it.

“I can sense that it has energized the place. That is what good leaders do, they bring a sense of wonder and excitement that wasn’t there before so it’s an exciting time to be a young player at Chelsea.”

One of those young players Cole is surely alluding to will be our very own academy graduate, Mason Mount, who has impressed many already. If what Cole says is true, Mason will have his chance to shine for his boyhood club.

“Mason Mount is a top player. He’s produced the goods on loan in Holland [with Vitesse] and in England [with Derby]. Every challenge he’s had he’s met. For me that’s a sign that a player is going to go places. Every time a question is asked of him, he performs.

“You’ve got to take your chance if you’re a young lad. It might be five or ten minutes, that’s the nature of the beast. You get the feeling if Mason gets the nod he will produce.”

- Joe Cole, source: talkSPORT