Chelsea sealed top spot in their Champions League group on Wednesday by storming to a fantastic 4-0 win over Sevilla.
Frank Lampard made nine changes from the side that drew with Tottenham at the weekend, and Olivier Giroud made the most of a rare start by bagging all four of his side's goals, in what was a dominant performance from the Blues.
Here's what head coach Lampard had to say after the game.
On Giroud's Performance
Left foot, right foot, header and a penalty! ?
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 3, 2020
The PERFECT hat-trick... +?! ? @_OlivierGiroud_ pic.twitter.com/cj0JChquUH
"It was an amazing performance," Lampard said in his post-match press conference (via football.london). "To score four goals at this level, Champions League level, against a really good opponent, then the individual quality of all his goals, I know the last was a penalty, but the team quality and his individual input, rightly he gets a standing ovation as he comes off the pitch. And I'm delighted for him.
"When you play him you know his attributes, it's important we get a lot of energy around him, people that can run off him and support him. He has qualities to hold the ball up obviously and to convert balls in the box like N'Golo puts in. So I loved all those parts of us at the top end of the pitch.
"He is the ultimate professional, and I think he's done that in his career. And I think that's why with Oli you see his numbers for France and in the Champions League.
"When I came in he wasn't always a regular before I got here, but as soon as I came in I could feel the positivity off him as a player, how he wants to train, how he wants to affect people whether he starts or not. And he's started a lot for us now and been very impactful in terms of how he was in restart and performances like tonight."
On Competition for Places
It's been a testing time for Giroud, who has had to watch on from the sidelines while Tammy Abraham and Timo Werner predominantly rotate the role of striker. But Lampard was keen to stress the modern game being about having a squad, admitting that he was delighted by the performance of those who came into the team.
"[Giroud is] a great sign for younger players and for other players when they are not always playing in the squad of 20-plus we have. They keep training well, and when they come in they perform like they did tonight.
"To make nine changes in the game and I said before, players were deserving to play, because I've seen them training well. Some players can get their heads down if they're not playing lots of minutes, and that's always the worry when you make that level of changes.
"But the focus and concentration of the team, the moments to suffer which we always will do against a team like this in the first half. We dealt with things, we defended well, we were organised, and some of our play was great, whether it was our comfort on the ball, our counter-attacking at pace to cause a threat to them. There were so many big pluses from tonight and we need to continue with that."
On How His Side Have Improved
"It is a collective thing and there’s a lot of aspects to it. We have worked. The lads have gone away and worked in a short off season. Myself and the staff did analysis on a lot of areas of our game which we wanted to improve.
"My job is to put them into action through work on the training ground. The other aspect is working with the players to make sure the push, drive and spirit of the players is good. The biggest thing is the players; the players have to go out and perform like they did today.
"The recruitment we did and the competition has started to be really positive in the group. Players trying to get in the team and train at the top level every day. I have to put a small warning next to that because people will get excited, particularly after a result like tonight but, as always, consistency is what wins you titles. We can’t play like tonight and drop the level. Sustaining that level is what will bring success."
On Not Getting Carried Away
The win against Sevilla was Chelsea's fourth consecutive victory in the Champions League - something the Blues have not managed since they went on to win the whole competition in 2012.
"I wasn't aware of that, I do like superstitions, but I also don't like talking about things or tempting fate. I'm pleased with where we're at, but the levels obviously go up at the next stage, which we've qualified for and we're thankful for that. That's great for our confidence, but the levels will go up, and we found that out last year.
"But we're in a different place now, we are improving, I feel that. I'll never be the one to get carried away but I knew at the start of the season with the players, with time to bed in, the younger players to mature and we are seeing that, the young players are reacting to competition and experienced players are affecting things and reacting to competition too.
"Look at Oli today, but you can look around at other performances in that team too, in Jorginho and Rudiger and Azpilicueta. So it's important we keep this spirit, but I'll leave that superstition one away until we get closer to where we want to be."
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Source: 90min
