Chelsea star responds to Frank Lampard's claim that standards slipped at Stamford Bridge

Frank Lampard was right to say that standards slipped at Chelsea during his stint as interim head coach last season, according to Ben Chilwell.

Club legend Lampard took temporary charge of the Blues for the end of last term, following the sacking of Graham Potter.

And he wasn’t overly pleased with what he saw from the players during that time, questioning their fitness and claiming that the squad lacked unity.

Ben Chilwell accepts Frank Lampard’s criticism (Image credit: Getty Images)

Now, Chilwell has backed up his former boss’ words. The Blues left-back said ahead of Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Liverpool at Wembley: “Unintentionally, nobody does it [lets standards slip] on purpose, but as someone who came in as Frank did at that time, he could see it wasn’t where he would expect it to be for one reason or another.

“It is difficult to pinpoint why. I can see why he said that [standards had slipped], but it wasn’t intentional or something we wanted to happen…a lot of circumstances contributed to that last season.”

Chilwell and Chelsea have had to get to grips with the very different managerial style of Mauricio Pochettino this season (Image credit: Getty Images)

Chelsea appointed Mauricio Pochettino as their next permanent head coach, and Chilwell admits that the 2023/24 campaign has been one of tough transition under the Argentine.

“He is a very demanding manager, which is what you want of course,” the England international continued. “There will be training sessions and games where personally you think you have done well and then he will pull you in and tell you what you could have done better. Then there will be other games when maybe you didn’t think you did very well and he does.

“It’s a balance really. He is very good in terms of keeping you on a level. Nobody gets ahead of themselves if they have a few good games, likewise, if things aren’t going our way he keeps the spirits high.”

Chilwell will expect to feature as the Blues aim to lift the League Cup for the first time since 2015.