Frank Lampard urged Mason Mount to be on fire from his personal relationship with Chelsea’s target, Declan Rice, and “beat him in every single battle.”
Mount and Rice are known to have a close relationship and Chelsea boss Lampard thinks their friendship will add more bite to the midfield clashes when West Ham host Chelsea on Wednesday evening.
“I think it pushes you more if you have a personal relationship either way – whether you’re the best friend or you don’t really like it,” said Lampard.
‘But you can either have the best of the games in that type of circumstance or you can focus too much on that relationship and have a not so good game.
“There is only one thing I will ask Mason … text him the night before the game, smile at him in the tunnel or whatever it is, but if and when they clash, he has tried to beat him every single battle that is possible And by sensing Declan Rice’s character, they will have a mentality similar to that. “
On Mount’s form he added: ‘Against Villa he was incredibly lively with the ball and gave us many options going forward, so the work ethic and the quality he showed against Manchester City were incredible, so he had two great performances in a week.
‘It wasn’t a bad performance against Leicester, more in line with the team. I rely heavily on Mason; I did at Derby and Chelsea, and this decision does not affect my way of thinking for West Ham or to move forward.
Rice, 21, has been informed of great things and a summer outing, but West Ham manager David Moyes insists that he wants to build his team around him.
“If you think of the great players who have been to West Ham for the past 125 years, some extraordinary players,” said Moyes.
‘Declan Rice isn’t quite close to that level yet, so Declan has many improvements to make to that level, but he’s a very, very good player.
‘I had the opportunity to see many players at the highest levels, their qualities. Declan has many, many.
‘My idea is to build West Ham around Declan Rice. I see Declan Rice as future captain. For many reasons I am looking forward to working with Declan and unless I am told differently or things change, it is a very important part of the club for me. “
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