If I was a professional footballer, there are some former players who I would look up to but not only that, study.
I would find out what they used to do, how they used to train, what they would eat, anything else they would do, and I’d do that and more to get to the same levels.
We always go back to Chelsea’s most successful teams of the past, it’s good to reminisce. But if I was a current Chelsea player, this is exactly what I would be doing and in fact, I’d be reaching out to them to ask for help and support.
Whether Frank Lampard has the time or not to help these days due to bossing it with Coventry this season, I’d be buzzing up his phone regardless and asking him what he did to make himself one of the best ever complete midfielders to play the game.
One of the best attributes Lampard had was arriving in the box at the perfect time and scoring a goal. He would hit from distance and score goals too. As well as that, it was his attitude and mentality that made him stand out.
Remember, when he joined Chelsea, basically everyone had already written him off and said he would never make it. Buy boy did he prove them all wrong.
John Obi Mikel said about Frank Lampard on his recent Podcast:
“The best trainer, without a shadow of a doubt. The best trainer I’ve ever played with.
“After training he’s there shooting, shooting, shooting. He takes about 20 to 30 balls and gets one of the assistant coaches to help him keep shooting. Keep practising the same thing.”
And that right there is why he stood out. That right there is why he became one of the best ever goal scoring midfielders in the game. That right there is why he had one of the best mentalities around and became an adored Chelsea legend.
If you put the work in and the extra work in, then nothing can stop you. Lampard, against all the odds, proved that.
It had me thinking, what current Chelsea player would do this or is doing this? There might be one, or some, I will check in on it. I’m not saying they don’t do this by the way, but this is what they should be doing right now to stand out and make it at the club. These extra bits of training is the difference maker, and this proves that mentality is as equally as important as quality in football today.
In the meantime, I’m going to find out if any of our current players stay behind after training to do their own extra work.
