'I can be honest' - Frank Lampard lift lids on 'collective standards' dropping at Chelsea and doubts whether Mauricio Pochettino can turn things around

Dominic Booth

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Frank Lampard believes Chelsea's standards have 'dropped' and has expressed doubts about how quickly Mauricio Pochettino will be able to fix things.

Lampard in honest assessment of Chelsea
Finished Premier League season in 12th
Pochettino appointment now confirmed

WHAT HAPPENED? Chelsea announced the appointment of Pochettino on Monday, the day after a disappointing season finished with them in 12th position. He's signed a two-year contract with the club, with the option for an extra year, and takes over from interim boss Lampard.

The former Chelsea midfield legend leaves the club following a poor interim spell and, before his exit, expressed his 'honest' views about where they had gone wrong.

WHAT THEY SAID: "Standards sounds a really simple word but it's so relevant to this club at the minute," said Lampard. "Standards collectively have dropped, I can be honest about that, particularly as it's the last game, I might not see some of them that much anymore anyway. The standards for a club like Chelsea have to be at a maximum or you won't be physically competitive enough. Or you won't get to play at a high level or a high speed like the Premier League demands. If you're not together in the dressing room, and you're not vocal in the dressing room driving each other and competitive because I want your place and you want mine and all of those things – any top team has to have that. At the minute, when I came in, very quickly I could see that wasn't there enough. I think that's something needed and of course a very good manager will help that. But everyone in that needs to take responsibility, players and club alike.

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"Can it be turned around in a year? I don't know that. It's hard to say. This league is tough and it's get more challenging every year, everyone is trying to move forward. I wouldn't want to put a time-limit on it."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Former Tottenham boss Pochettino will be expected to hit the ground running at Stamford Bridge, having been sacked by Paris Saint Germain almost a year ago. He's only won one league in his career – Ligue 1 with PSG – but worked wonders at Spurs with a young squad. He's joined by his usual backroom team: assistant Jesus Perez, first-team coach Miguel D’Agostino and goalkeeping coach Toni Jimenez.

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