Chelsea boss Frank Lampard reveals he had bust-up with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink like Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane row
FRANK LAMPARD felt his memory jog watching Sadio Mane and Mo Salah’s pitch battle unfold.
The two Liverpool forwards fell out when hacked off Mane lost the plot last month at Burnley over team-mate Salah’s selfish streak.
Frustrated Mane blew his top when subbed during the 3-0 win because he felt single-minded Salah should have passed not go for goal.
Chelsea boss Lampard reckons tiffs like this are good for business and recalls how he got on the wrong side of a scary team-mate when he committed the same crime.
Lampard said: “I remember being in a dressing room at Southampton with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and I scored. Afterwards he complained that I hadn’t passed to him in the game and I should’ve passed to him in a different moment from my goal.
“He said ‘You’ve scored one. There you go. You’re just trying to score another one and not pass to me’. And this from the man who shot 20 times a game!
“And that was it. That was Jimmy. And that’s what football’s about. It’s different personalities.
“He probably ignored me for a couple of days and we probably just spoke again after that. It was fine. There was no big issue. It’s just I remember it.
“As you get older and reflect on it, I probably actually respect him for it. That’s what made Jimmy the force that he was at the time as well.
“Strikers should be and have to have an element of selfishness about them.
I had it as a midfield player. I wanted to be good individually and I wanted to be part of a winning team.
“And you can’t have perfect ambience around that at all times within the squad.
“It’s good for players to test each other. If you didn’t, I think there would be a relaxed nature about your group.
“I don’t know Mane, but knowing Mo Salah, he’s a really, really good lad.
He’s just hungry. And I think that’s one of the reasons why he’s at the level we just spoke about as a player.
“They’re competitive lads. I played with players who demanded the ball to their feet when I shot and, vice-versa, I demanded they pass to me when I shot.
“That edginess about football, that competition amongst the group, as long as it doesn’t overstep the mark, it’s fine.
“I like it. They both want to score goals, they’re hungry, they’re competitive, they want to be winners and, when they play like that, then that’s the answer. If they’re not playing well enough or not performing and you see that kind of thing going on I think then maybe, as a manager, you could ask much more questions. But these boys are really driven. So I like it.”
Feuding Salah and Mane have since made up although Lampard joked that he now fears JFH might be on his case again.
Mane scored at Turf Moore on the day in question but lost his temper when Salah tried to go it alone and fluffed his chance.
Chelsea face Liverpool on Sunday free of turf wars between the players as one kid is supplying all the goals.
Striker Tammy Abraham is enjoying the best form of his career with seven in three.
The game will be a test for the Chelsea youngsters in all departments.
Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk is UEFA men’s player of the year. Mane, Salah and Roberto Firmino will provide a stern test for blossoming Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori.
Lampard said: “Van Dijk is an incredible player. Seemingly, he has every attribute needed to be a defender and more. It is a test for our centre forward. I think Tomori has shown that he has real quality and calmness with how he has arrived into a first-time into the Premier League.
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“What we must make sure is with Liverpool if you give them a second or half a second that they are gone and can hurt you. So those are the things that all our defenders have to be aware of.”
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