Lampard sells his vision of world-class excellence and impact to Hudson-Odoi

It’s a time of change at Chelsea Football Club, and Frank Lampard is the man chosen to lead us into the new era. One of the greatest to ever grace Stamford Bridge, returns to lead us through these treacherous waters. It’s rather poetic. Certainly romantic. It could go very very wrong. It could also be glorious.

If it is going to be the latter, we’re going to need the players to play along and buy into Lampard’s vision. And that includes a certain 18-year-old, who could prove central to any and all ambitions we may have post-Hazard.

“[Hudson-Odoi] is going to be central for us on the pitch and that is the opportunity that is really in front of him now. So that’s what I will speak to him about and I hope he stays.

“I am not going say things that are pie in the sky. I am not going to say, ‘This is all going to be your way’. But knowing his talent he can be central to this team, he can be central to an England team. I am going to say I want to work with him, I want to drive him forward. I want to improve him as a player and he can show right here at Chelsea, the club he came through the academy at, that he is going to be an absolute world-class player – because I truly believe that.”

-Frank Lampard; source: Telegraph

Lampard certainly knows the importance of buying into and trusting a coach’s vision. In 2004, a certain 41-year-old walked into Stamford Bridge and helped propel a very good young player into one of the best in the world. And the rest, as they say, is history.

“[Mourinho] was the manager who dramatically changed my career. He brought success to Chelsea, but also for me, personally, because my game went up a few notches. It was mainly about mentality – it was his confidence in me. I was quite within myself when he came, my self-belief wasn’t where it should have been.

“And then in walks this fella with self-belief to burn and to pass on – and he did and I bought into it. He was certainly a great man-manager for me and also ahead of the game tactically. He made me think more than maybe I had done before he came.

-Frank Lampard; source: Mirror

Now in 2019, a 41-year-old Frank Lampard could be the one to set a young Chelsea player on his way to the greatest of heights. Hudson-Odoi may be younger now than Lampard was back in 2004, but that’s just the new reality of these modern times.

“That conversation has changed. The ‘too much, too young’ [argument] has gone. They do get – whether you say it’s too much – a lot young. It’s the way the game has gone. You’re a dinosaur if you try to hang on to the fact that they shouldn’t.

“What becomes even more important is the attitude of the player, what’s around them, how you coach and how you push and drive. That will be part of my job.”

-Frank Lampard; source: Telegraph

Football doesn’t stand still and new ideas need to be implemented, and Lampard knows that. But he also knows that eternal ideas of determination, motivation, and self-belief remain crucial. Hudson-Odoi certainly doesn’t lack in skill or ambition, but he also needs people to truly believe in him, to give him the chances and the confidence needed to reach his full potential. Mourinho did that for Lampard. Now it’s Lampard’s turn to give that to Hudon-Odoi.

Sign the contract, Callum!