Frank Lampard watched Chelsea win 1-0 in Leicester to reach an FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United after half-criticizing his players at half-time and replacing three of them. The manager said his team hadn’t played too badly for over 45 minutes all season, and they were lucky that Leicester couldn’t take their chances.
One of the halftime changes, Ross Barkley, scored the winner in the 63rd minute, taking Lampard a step closer to a first piece of silver for managers. Arsenal meet Manchester City in the other semi-final.
“There were a few words at half-time,” said Lampard. “The first half of the year was not what we are used to in terms of performance. We lacked urgency and intensity. I made three submarines, but there could have been more and different submarines. I made the changes that I made to impact and personality and we turned them over. “
Lampard said he would not have made three substitutes at half-time if the rules had not been changed for the rest of the season to allow five. Chelsea had pushed for the change to meet the physical demands on players after more than three months out.
“I’ve been thinking about how I would use more submarines,” he said. “They serve for protection and in general you look at the midfield and the attack areas. But the game can change your mind and today was one of them. Five submarines have proven useful because I could use three at half time and still had two left. “
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Lampard took three young players – Reece James, Mason Mount and Billy Gilmour – and replaced them with César Azpilicueta, Barkley and Mateo Kovacic. “I spoke to them [the young players] at halftime and at the end, ”said Lampard. “They’ll be great players and we’ll go on.”
At his press conference, Brendan Rodgers was prevented from answering a question whether Leicester would have to play in neutral locations after a local increase in coronavirus cases. He said he was concerned about infection rates in the region, but that “as a football club, we are very protected.”
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