https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2020/07/04/
willian-contract-talks-on-going-says-frank-lampard
Willian contract talks on-going says Frank Lampard
04 Jul 2020
Frank Lampard has confirmed there is still a possibility Willian could be
a Chelsea player for the 2020/21 season.
https://i.imgur.com/akRoBdI.jpg
The in-form Brazilian, who has scored five goals in his past six
appearances, signed a short-term contract last month that ensures he can
play for the Blues until the end of the current campaign but after that,
his future is uncertain.
'I haven't given up hope on it,' said Lampard on the subject of a new
contract for Willian beyond that.
'The club are still in discussions with him. We want him to stay but I
also appreciate the fact this contract for Willian is a big deal because
of his age. I have been there before myself, but the way he is playing at
the moment shows his worth to the squad and I hope it is something we can
get to.
https://i.imgur.com/2GwRXQ6.jpg
'Whichever way, he has been a great servant to the club and if we can get
there, I'll be happy. If not, I will certainly wish him well as I have a
lot of time for him and in the short term, we can see what he is doing for
us.'
The question over Willian's long-term availability plus the focus on the
rest of 2019/20 means Lampard does not want to discuss further potential
signings in the attacking department at this stage, with Hakim Ziyech and
Timo Werner already recruited.
'At the moment we are working towards trying to finish off this season and
trying to be better in front of goal in the next six games, with the FA
Cup included. And the players here can improve and we work towards that
all the time. We will take a view on that and similarly defensively. I
have to focus on the players here now and what happens in the summer will
be what happens. I don't want to talk too far in the future. We have a
strong group here, we have a job to do and we will sit down and look at it
in the break.'
That could include recruiting players to add height to the squad after
Lampard admitted after the West Ham defeat that playing sides with a
height advantage does cause his current side difficulties.
'We have looked at set-plays this season,' he said. 'When we came into the
club we looked at the stats from last season and last season we were
bottom of the league in terms of defending set-plays and in terms of other
teams getting big chances against us. We were second bottom in attacking
[with set-plays]. We looked at that and it is not a reference to last
season only as we haven't improved much this year.
'If you look at personnel, I really don't like to talk about my days
playing but we didn't really work so much on set-pieces. We did with
certain managers more than others and probably there were a few reasons
why but they were mainly John Terry, Gary Cahill, Didier Drogba, Michael
Ballack, Branislav Ivanovic. You stick it in an area and they would defend
it or score goals.
'Similarly with Liverpool, I remember a lot of talk about them defending
set-pieces two or three seasons ago. They were zonal, they conceded a lot,
they signed Virgil van Dijk and he heads out everything that comes into
the box.
'So there is a huge relation to personnel and if you don't have that in
terms of a big size across the team, trying to compete as hard as you can
and make it difficult for other teams to score is the main thing. I am not
making an excuse when I say this as we have not done that well enough on
the pitch and that has to improve. When you look at who you might bring
in, and the balance of the squad, in the modern day it is certainly
something to take into account when you are looking at recruitment.'