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DEFENCE MUST IMPROVE

Chelsea manager Rafa Benitez has said that the defence must improve substantially if they are to have any chance of beating Manchester City at Wembley on Sunday. Chelsea will be taking on Manchester City in the semifinals of the FA Cup. This is one of the toughest matches in the season for Chelsea.

It has just been made even more tough due to the marathon run of fixtures they have had in recent weeks. The team has played four matches in the last week alone, while they will be coming after a gruelling trip to Moscow to play against Rubin Kazan in the Europa league quarter-finals.

Even though they lost the match against Rubin Kazan 3-2, they managed to progress into the semifinals 5-4 on aggregate. Chelsea took the lead twice in the match, but they could not hold on to the lead for much longer, as they allowed the Russian team to totally dominate in the second half. Fernando Torres and Victor Moses scored the goals for Chelsea. John Terry was extremely poor at the back, as his defensive line allowed Rubin Kazan to take advantage. Chelsea would have gone out of the competition had they conceded two goals, which seemed like a real possibility at one stage in the match.

"We have to stop crosses and deal much better with them - things we couldn't do against Rubin. was happy with the first half, but we have to improve on our second-half performance. I'm disappointed because we didn't defend well in the second half. It is not just the defenders who have to improve, because it is the whole team who defends. We managed the squad and hopefully we'll have some fresh legs for Sunday too," said Benitez, who rested a number of key players against Rubin Kazan.

WORLD CUP DREAM

Frank Lampard has said that he desperately wants to play in the World Cup 2014. Lampard had played in England’s friendly match against Brazil a couple of weeks ago. He was not included in the starting XI and had come to play as a substitute in the second half of the match and he stood up to the expectations of his manager Roy Hodgson. He found the net in the 60th minute and gave his team a lead of 2-1.

Lampard’s performance in this season for Chelsea has been pretty consistent. He has scored 11 goals so far in the ongoing season. But, his contract with Chelsea will get finished at the end of this season and it is not clear whether the Chelsea management wants to extend his contract. According to some reports, the American club Los Angeles Galaxy wants to sign Lampard and the English midfielder might be on his way to USA next summer.

However, Roy Hodgson has recently said that if Lampard continues playing in England or Europe, it will increase his chances of being selected in the England team for the World Cup.
When asked if Hodgson’s statement will prevent him from joining any club outside Europe, Lampard said, “No, that will not affect my decision. At the end of the season, I will sit and think what is best for me and then, will take any decision.”

A couple of years ago Lampard had said that he might not make it to the England team for the 2014 world cup as the management would be looking for the younger players. But, after performing well recently, the English midfielder has started thinking about making it to the world cup team.

Lampard has so far played 94 matches for his national side and has scored 27 goals.

LAMPARD LEFT DISAPPOINTED

The Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has said that he is extremely disappointed to lose the final of the Club World Cup. Chelsea lost the match and the opportunity to win the tournament for the first time in the history.

The 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Brazilian team Corinthians meant that Chelsea will now be returning to England disappointed after having travelled such a long distance to take part in the competition. Frank Lampard has said that Chelsea created enough opportunities and chances over the 90 minutes to warrant them at least a draw from the match. Indeed, the opposition goalkeeper was the best player in the match.

The Corinthians goalkeeper saved a number of shots from the Chelsea players like Fernando Torres and Gary Cahill to keep his team in the match, while they managed to score with one of the very few opportunities they created. As a result, the Brazilian club will be holding the title as the world champions of clubs. Frank Lampard was captaining the team after recently returning from more than two months out with a calf injury. Chelsea created several opportunities over the course of the 90 min, with the likes of Fernando Torres being guilty of missing great opportunities to score and put them in the lead.

"It was always going to be a tough game. They are a very good team. It is tough to come away with a bad feeling. We had enough chance to at least draw the match. They were very organised, I think Brazilian teams at club level can be like that. We knew what they were going to bring. It is disappointing to come all this way and not win it. We have to move on," said Lampard, whose contract with the European champions comes to an end in the summer.

BENITEZ UNSURE ON LAMPARD

The new Chelsea manager Rafael Benitez has revealed that he expects both the English duo of Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole to leave the club at the end of the season. Frank Lampard is one of the longest serving Chelsea players at the moment.

He is the face of the club alongside John Terry after having joined the club back in 2001. He is right to the holder of numerous records at the club, but his contract comes to an end in six months. Similarly, Ashley Cole is also out of contract. The defender joined the club in 2006 and is regarded as one of the best left backs in the world.

The 34-year-old Frank Lampard is thought to be offered only a one-year extension to his contract, with the midfielder demanding around two years. This is also the similar situation with the defender Ashley Cole. The new Chelsea manager Rafael Benitez thinks that the situation is not going to change in the last six months, as he expects the pair to leave the club at the end of the season. This would complete an astonishing breakup of the Chelsea team that managed to win the Champions League title in the summer. Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, and José Bosingwa have already left the club.

"I think so, that is the case at the moment. I am only here for seven months. If it is for two or three years then maybe I would have an influence. Sometimes you are in a difficult position as manager because there's too much to decide on, so it's better to have a technical director sometimes," said Benitez after taking charge of the first time. Rafael Benitez becomes the 10th manager of the Roman Abramovich era, as he prepares to replace Roberto di Matteo at the helm.

LAMPARD BACKS KIDS

Frank Lampard has backed the young players in the England squad and said that the youngsters should be given a bit of time to prove their worth in the team.

The England team had started their World Cup qualifying campaign in a fine fashion with a blistering win over Moldova. Roy Hodgson’s boys were clinical in their approach against Moldova.

The team won that match by 5-0. But, the English team didn’t manage to carry on the momentum in the second match against Ukraine. The relatively weaker Ukrainian team didn’t let England sneak in a victory in that match. Both the teams found the net once in the match and the scorecard was saying 1-1 when the final whistle was blown.

But, Lampard didn’t seem to be worried too much about the form of the youngsters. As per Lampard, it’s not easy for the young players to start performing straight away. They need to be backed.

They did pretty well against Moldova. They struggled a bit against Ukraine, but, that might be due to nervousness. When you play at such a big stage at a young age, you tend to get nervous at times. The team is in the rebuilding phase and the fans should remain patient. The youngsters would definitely start to deliver at some point of time.

Lampard also praised the Ukrainian players for their performance in the match against England. As per Lampard, the Ukrainian team is not that weak. There are some extremely talented players in the Ukraine side. If the Ukrainian players keep playing like that, the Ukrainian team can upset some big teams in the competition. Lampard was pretty hopeful of his team’s chances in the further matches. England’s next World Cup qualifying match will be against San Marino on 12th of October.

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LAMPARD WANTS TO STAY

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has dismissed suggestions that is likely to leave the club at the end of this season. The 34-year-old Chelsea midfielder is out of contract at the end of the season.

He confirmed a few days ago that there was no offer on the table, but also acknowledged that the club are unlikely to speed up things given his age. He was recently linked with a move to MLS, with the LA Galaxy showing a lot of interest in pairing the Chelsea midfielder with David Beckham. The pair were also spotted watching the LA Galaxy match together. Even though Lampard has said that he would one day like to play in the MLS, he wants to extend his Chelsea contract.

Chelsea recently saw the departure of the 34-year-old Didier Drogba after he was not offered an contract extension. The club are desperate to reduce the age of the squad. This is probably the first season in which the club have signed a number of young players, who are ready to step into the first-team, for a total outlay of £ 60 million. Chelsea's last spending spree was back in 2004 and it was enough to get the team running up until now. Lampard has said that he wants to commit to Chelsea and wants a new deal on the table.

“I’ve got a few more years in terms of top football left in me. We had such great success at the back end of last season with that player behind the front man, it gave us a new lease of life. A lot of the players we’ve brought in fit that role, so it means I play a slightly different role, which I did last season and I’ll do it. It’s no problem. It’s an evolution of the team and not a complete revolution," said Lampard.

NO FEAR OF PENALTIES

England midfielder Frank Lampard has said that the players should have the utmost concentration if the match goes into penalties, according to the Chelsea news website. England will be facing Italy in the quarter-finals of the Euro 2012 in that there is a possibility that the match will be settled by the penalty shootout.

England have always been extremely of luck in the penalty shootouts, as is the same case with Premier league club Chelsea. However, they managed to do the unthinkable by winning the penalty shootout against German team on German soil in the Champions League. Frank Lampard was one of the successful converters for Chelsea in the penalty shootout.

The 34-year-old will be missing from the England national team, , along with David Beckham, after pulling out prior to the tournament due to injury. He has always been one of the reliable penalty takers for both Chelsea and England. Due to the fact that he will be missing for the penalty shootout, the England national team will hope to find another reliable penalty taker.

Lampard has stressed that confidence and concentration are the two main characters required to take a successful penalty. If it goes to penalties, England will be hoping that they get the same luck as Chelsea got in the Champions League.

"It is the most nerve-racking experience in football and you need the balls and the confidence to handle it. The pressure is just so intense. Taking a penalty in a game is bad enough but, normally, if you miss in a match there's still time to try and put it right. In a shoot-out there are no second chances. That's it - it is the be all and end all and that adds to the pressure. Your mind is racing. You know the penalty taker is always expected to score," said Frank Lampard.

REDKNAPP WANTS CHELSEA LOSS

Frank Lampard's uncle and Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has said that he hopes his nephew loses the Champions League final against Bayern Munich on May 19.

Tottenham finished the season in the fourth position, but there is every chance that they could miss out on the chance to play in the Champions League next season if Chelsea win the title. Harry Redknapp said a few weeks ago that is one of the most absurd rules by UEFA.

Liverpool's win in 2005 coupled with an Everton finish in the top four meant that there were five English teams in the competition that season. Since then, the rules have been changed in order to accommodate no more than four teams from England.

Harry Redknapp said ahead of the match with Fulham on the final day of the season that he would be willing to support Frank Lampard and Chelsea only if you finish in the third position, which will guarantee an automatic entry into the group stages. However, a 3-2 win for Arsenal over West Brom meant that Tottenham were unable to finish in the third position despite their 2-0 win over Fulham at White Hart Lane. As a result, Harry Redknapp has come out with the statement saying that he hopes his nephew Frank Lampard, who is expected to start the final, loses the match.

“Frank knows there’s no love lost. My allegiance is only to Tottenham. He understands that. I want Tottenham in the Champions League next year. We’ve done all that we can and I couldn’t be more pleased. If people start getting carried away with what Tottenham should achieve they need a reality check,” said Harry Redknapp after the 2-0 win over Fulham. Tottenham finished just one point behind Arsenal in the fourth position.

CHELSEA CAN WIN THINGS

Following the hugely impressive 5-1 win over Tottenham in the FA Cup semi-final, Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has said that this victory alone shows that Chelsea are capable of matching Barcelona in the two clubs face each other in the Champions League semi-final on Wednesday night.

Chelsea have been drawn against Barcelona in a repeat of the hugely controversial 2009 Champions League semi-final.

Chelsea are undefeated in their last five matches against the Catalan club. Barcelona knockout Chelsea back then after the English club were denied numerous clear-cut penalty shouts. Even though Frank Lampard insisted that it was not about revenge, he would like to beat Barcelona this time around.

Chelsea opened the scoring in the match against Tottenham with a hugely impressive strike from Didier Drogba. The Ivorian collected a pass from Frank Lampard and managed to outmuscle former Chelsea defender William Gallas before hitting a powerful shot past former Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini.

Mata then scored a controversial goal, although Tottenham soon brought the game in the balance the goal from Gareth Bale. Following the goal, however, Tottenham collapsed after Ramires managed to score in the 77th minute. Lampard then found the net with a wonderful freekick before Florent Malouda completed the rout by scoring from a smart pass from Mata, to make Chelsea favourites to win the FA Cup trophy for the sixth time in their history (according to the latest fa cup final odds)

“Beating Tottenham like this has given us a real confidence boost. It’s not like we’re going from a bad defeat to a game against the best team in the world. We have a lot of belief in ourselves. We have to take them on over two games, it’s going to be very tough but if we play with the same focus and ability we showed against Tottenham we have a chance," Lampard said after the match. Fernando Torres was rested for this match and is likely to start against Barcelona.

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