Chelsea boss Frank Lampard is delighted he and his team were able to overcome the loss of Eden Hazard.
The Blues finished fourth on the Premier League table last season, despite being unable to sign a replacement for Hazard after he left from Real Madrid due to a transfer ban.
“When you lose a player of the impact of Eden Hazard, we knew the players sometimes relied on his moments of magic to win us games,” the Chelsea boss said in the season review ‘Frank Lampard: Coming Home’.
“It was a case for me of how can I fill that gap? I fully understand why some pundits didn’t give us a chance to come in the top four.”
Instead Lampard turned towards his young players who were returning from loan spells away from Chelsea, including Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham and Reece James, as well as January signing Christian Pulisic.
“When you have players coming back from loans in the Championship who need to play 50 games, there will be difficult times.
“To be able to sustain Champions League football was a huge achievement for the club, but at no point was I forced to play the academy boys. I felt if they were going to play for us they would have to do so on merit.”
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