Lampard: I´m no Mourinho clone

Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard stressed he is no Jose Mourinho “clone” ahead of the Blues’ trip to Tottenham this weekend.

Lampard enjoyed great success under current Spurs boss Mourinho during the Portuguese’s first spell at Stamford Bridge, the midfielder an integral part of two Premier League title-winning sides. 

Chelsea’s all-time record scorer went into management himself after retiring and, when in charge of Derby County last season, his side claimed a penalty shoot-out victory over Mourinho’s Manchester United in the EFL Cup.

The apprentice is now following in his master’s footsteps at Chelsea, yet Lampard insists he is his own man.

Asked if there were anything he had taken from Mourinho into his coaching career, Lampard said: “Not one thing, no.

“[He is a] good manager, loads of good attributes, but I wouldn’t try and be a clone or anything.

“I’m happy to go up against Jose. For me to play under him as a player, he was a big influence on my career. To go up against him with Derby last year was a big deal for me. I’ll always have respect for him.

“The bigger thing is Chelsea-Tottenham, and what that rivalry means to our players and us. Rivalries are what you feel about your club. Our fans will demand on Sunday what we feel for the game: passion.”

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Tottenham have taken 12 points out of a possible 15 since Mourinho replaced Mauricio Pochettino last month and Spurs will go above Chelsea if they win at home on Sunday.

In contrast to Spurs’ good form, Lampard’s side have lost four of their past five Premier League games, not that their head coach is pressing the panic button.

“We’ve got a good spirit, a good group,” he said.

“Questions start to be asked of you, in-house, when you get difficult results. It’s important to be up front and honest with each other.

“I see a positive group in training, training hard, a group that’s together. We need the results to turn back a bit, because the last few we’re not happy with.

“I had this last year. Every manager has it to a degree. Maybe not Jurgen Klopp for a long time. It’s the nature of what we’re in.

“There have been some real positives, so don’t get caught up in the negatives of a few results. We’re fourth. We’re qualified for the Champions league [last 16].

“We know we can do better, but we need to be confident and keep moving forward.”