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Lampard: Son-Lloris spat should have been kept in Tottenham dressing room

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard would not want to see his players in heated arguments on the pitch in the manner of Tottenham's Hugo Lloris and Son Heung-min.

By Joe Wright
Chelsea boss Frank Lampard would not want to see his players in heated arguments on the pitch in the manner of Tottenhams Hugo Lloris and Son Heung-min

London, July 11: Chelsea boss Frank Lampard would not want to see his players engage in heated arguments on the pitch in the manner of Tottenham's Hugo Lloris and Son Heung-min.

In the 1-0 win over Everton on Monday, the duo were involved in a flare-up at half-time and had to be separated by team-mates.

Lloris later explained he had been frustrated with Son's failure to track the run of Richarlison, who came close to scoring for the Toffees, but insisted they had put it behind them quickly.

Tottenham pair Son Heung Min and Hugo Lloris clash on the pitchTottenham pair Son Heung Min and Hugo Lloris clash on the pitch

Head coach Jose Mourinho was encouraged by such a show of fighting spirit from his players and Lampard was asked whether he would like to see the same thing from his Chelsea stars, with Tammy Abraham having lost the ball and failed to track back in the closing seconds of the 3-2 win over Crystal Palace, which resulted in Scott Dann hitting the post.

Lampard admits there are certain qualities his young players must improve, but he believes any such disagreements between team-mates should be confined to the dressing room.

"Tammy gave the ball away and has to react better and yes, of course, I speak with the players when these things happen," Lampard said ahead of Chelsea's Premier League clash with Sheffield United on Saturday.

"It's part of the development but they can only go so far. Some things in football are basic and they need to do better. Tammy gets us the goal that wins the game, I know his intentions are good, all the players want to see out the game. It's a mistake that can happen to anybody.

"Reactions and work-ethic areas are where I would really come down hard, and I think generally with the players, we don't have that issue. But we do make mistakes maybe sometimes with the youthfulness and that's something we'll work on and get better at.

"In terms of issues on the pitch, I'm not mad on seeing players fight like that. I think those things should at least be held for the dressing room. It can happen on the training ground, in the dressing room. I'm not an advocate of saying, 'That's positive, it means they care'. Every situation is different and sometimes I feel with players pointing fingers at other players... they better make sure their game is right as well and that they're doing the right things.

"I think a good squad of individuals will push each other and it's more of an unspoken rule - you don't let each other down. I'm not mad on things being on show in front of everybody else like that, but we're all humans and sometimes it happens and how you deal with it after that is probably the important thing."

Chelsea are under pressure for a result against Sheffield United, with Leicester City just a point behind in the table and Manchester United only two adrift after their 3-0 win over Aston Villa on Thursday.

That game saw a controversial penalty awarded to Bruno Fernandes following a collision with Ezri Konsa, with referee Jon Moss awarding the spot-kick and VAR backing up his decision.

Lampard was surprised by the speed with which the penalty was given and allowed to be taken and wants more open dialogue with lawmakers to iron out VAR's problems.

"I only saw the Manchester United one and I was surprised how quickly it was dealt with and not looked over again," he said. "We had one at West Ham a couple of weeks ago when [Michail] Antonio was offside and pretty clearly interfering, and it took them a few minutes but they came to the right decision. [At Villa Park] it seemed to be that, by the time it came back, the penalty was being taken.

"So, I think there are probably issues to deal with, but I also sympathise with the referees then, the grey area of 'clear and obvious', because I've already heard a few different observations on the decisions of last night. But we need to open dialogue, we need to talk more, we need to try to get it as good as it can be. We may never be absolutely happy with this. I actually think that VAR, for the clarity it gives when it's gotten right and makes the right decision and helps the referee, then it works very well at times. What the referee needed with the Manchester United one, in my opinion, was help. In real time, I think it looked like it might have been a penalty; pretty clearly, when we had all the advantage of replays, it didn't look so."

Story first published: Saturday, July 11, 2020, 10:40 [IST]
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