Lampard backs Havertz to succeed at Chelsea despite early struggles
Chelsea’s manager defended the German over Robert Huth’s criticism of Havertz’s performance and body language in a 2-0 defeat at Leicester.
Ahead of
Chelsea’s
FA Cup clash against
Luton
Town
, the English coach said
: "I can officially say from working with Kai that desire is absolutely not part of the issue. Is he as confident right now, at this minute, as he can be or will be? No, because he is having a tough moment, as are other members of the squad.
"Kevin De Bruyne and Mo Salah are players who were here at a similar age to Kai. They went away and took time and came back, and now they are absolute Premier League legends.
"I don’t want to build Kai up and put that pressure on his shoulders, but there clearly has to be a time with young players who come to this league, where people have to give them time, patience and sometimes a little bit of wriggle room.
"It’s not that everything will just happen in a few months or in one performance.
"He has a style that maybe when things aren’t coming off, people want to jump on. I’ve seen players like that over the years, some amazingly talented players. But, let me tell you, his desire, the ground he covers in games is big, the data and the stats are big, and he needs time because we’ve seen this story so many times with players.
"I know him well, he’s a good lad and my job is to coach him like I coach the young players that came through last year in this team and made real names for themselves, to keep improving him.
"And now is the time to give him confidence and show my support for him and he’s got my absolute support."
With both Germans enduring 11-game goal droughts in the league, expensive signings of
Timo Werner
and
Kai Havertz
are tipped to define
Lampard’s
future at
Chelsea
as the club have dropped to eighth currently. However, the manager believes the idea that his squad has become too big is not accurate.
"I don’t agree with that," he added. "I had two other windows where I was here. The first window we couldn’t [sign players], the second window we didn’t bring anyone in.
"Off the back of the year, the club’s trying to improve at all times and what we did do is try and invest predominantly in younger players and for that you maybe have to wait your time. They’re for the present and they’re also for the future.
"I don’t see that [Chelsea signed too many players]. People can speculate as much as they like but for a club you’re always trying to move forward. I believe heavily that these players can be good players for the club.
"They are very good players. At this moment it’s a tough time for everyone."
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