England's World Cup trauma won't hurt Chelsea, says Frank Lampard

Posted Friday, August 06, 2010 by theguardian.com

• Midfielder 'excited' to be back at Blues after summer travails
• Admits champions will struggle to repeat 100-goal season

Frank Lampard trains during Chelsea's pre-season tour of Germany. He says the club's priority is to defend their Premier League title.

Frank Lampard says his return to Chelsea is like a "breath of fresh air" after the trauma and claustrophobia of England's failed World Cup campaign. Although the midfielder insisted he bore no psychological scars from the wreckage in South Africa, he can feel a certain liberation in being back at a winning team and in a positive atmosphere.

"I have got to be honest, the disappointing summer is not affecting the Chelsea side," he said. "Of course, we are disappointed with England but it is almost a breath of fresh air to come back to Chelsea. We won the Double last year and that is a nice feeling. There is no niggling mental effect from the World Cup at all. When the England games come then we will approach that but in terms of Chelsea, I think it is exciting to be back."

There is irony and perhaps a sneaking feeling of dread among the England World Cup players that they must turn out in a Wembley friendly against Hungary next Wednesday before the start of the Premier League season on Saturday week. Chelsea open their title defence at home to West Bromwich Albion. Some club managers have criticised the timing of the international fixture, and Lampard can see their point.

"Everyone has spoken about it not being ideal," he said. "There are two arguments. It is not ideal for the teams, that is an obvious statement, because everyone wants to prepare for that first game. But you have to understand that England need to prepare for the [Euro 2012] qualifying games as well. That game has always been there, and as a professional playing for your country, you go and play."

Lampard trod carefully as he reflected on the World Cup and particularly when he was asked whether he had now forgotten about it. "That would be a good headline for you," he said, with a smile. "No one wants to go to the World Cup and get knocked out. I am sure that Brazil, Argentina, Italy and all the big teams that didn't get to the final feel the same.

"But you have to look forward. You do not want to dwell on things. You have to look forward to the season with a positive attitude for Chelsea and for England, as all England players do."

Chelsea have just returned from an unsuccessful mini-tour of Germany in terms of results. They lost 2-1 to both Hamburg and Eintracht Frankfurt, defeats that followed the 3-1 reverse to Ajax in Amsterdam. The curtain goes up on their season on Sunday with the Community Shield against Manchester United.

Carlo Ancelotti, the manager, has admitted that his World Cup players need another two weeks of training before they are match fit, but Lampard feels that he will enjoy the dividend of his four-week post-South Africa break later in the season. "The rest was about a month, which is plenty for me; I was kind of ready to come back," he said. "There is no issue for me there [in terms of time off] and now it is just about getting fit. It always takes a little time. Hopefully the rest we did have will be of benefit later on.

"We have not had the best results but that is normal because a lot of big players have come back later and have also had a little bit of injury, like Didier Drogba. The important thing is what happens when the business starts on Sunday and next week."

Lampard's priority for the season is the retention of the Premier League title, and he stressed that results were the bottom line. "We scored 100 goals last season and we probably won't score as many, if the truth be known," he said. "People will set out to try and stop us doing things like that this year but I really don't care how we win the league, if we were to do it again.

"First and foremost, I would like to defend the league. Hopefully, we can try and win the Champions League but it is a horrible one to try and call at the start of the season."

Lampard predicted that Manchester City could join the band of more established title challengers but, as many figures in the game have already done, he applied some pressure on the free-spending north-west club. According to him, it was imperative that they enjoyed a winning start to the season.

"They have got the money and they are stronger than ever but they will have to try and find the mix and they will have to try and make it work very quickly," he said. "You feel that they are going to be a force eventually because of the money behind them, but how quickly they can do it and how successfully they can do it remains to be seen."