Lampard hails 'leader' Jorginho

Frank Lampard hailed Jorginho for his leadership qualities and confirmed the midfielder will replace Ross Barkley as Chelsea's first-choice penalty taker.

The Italy midfielder scored from the spot in Chelsea's 2-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday after Mason Mount was fouled by Adam Webster inside the box. Jorginho was back on spot-kick duties a week and a half on from Barkley missing a crucial penalty in the 1-0 Champions League defeat to Valencia.

Lampard stood by Barkley following that miss but he was also overlooked on Wednesday as Pedro stepped up from 12 yards in the 7-1 win against Grimsby Town in the EFL Cup.

 

September 28, 2019

Asked if Jorginho is now top of the pecking order after his emphatic penalty against Brighton, Lampard told reporters: "Yes he is, end of story. I'm surprised about the obsession with penalty takers. Jorginho took it and he scored. He's a penalty taker."

Jorginho has now scored as many goals in nine appearances for Chelsea in all competitions this season as he did in 54 games in 2018-19, having also converted from the spot in August's UEFA Super Cup clash with Liverpool. The 27-year-old endured an indifferent first season at Stamford Bridge under Maurizio Sarri but has been a key player for Lampard, who reserved special praise for the ex-Napoli man.

"He is a leader in his personality and whatever happened last year I wasn't here and for whatever reason people will make judgements," Lampard said at his post-match news conference. "All I can judge is what I see in front of me and from pre-season he has been one of the leaders clearly in the dressing room and on the pitch and he wants to win. 

 

September 28, 2019

"That should be the basis and is for everyone but to show it in everything you do is important and he does that so I'm pleased with him and the young players need to look up to that attitude he has daily."

Another of Chelsea's more experienced players was on target to seal the win, with 31-year-old Willian's deflected strike finding a way past the impressive Mat Ryan 14 minutes from time.

"The young players are playing because they deserve to so I don't really consider age but they will always need that experienced player around them," Lampard said. "Jorginho with the coolness of head to score that penalty, Willian who not only created chances for himself and got his goal but his work ethic was fantastic today and those are the standards and some of those experienced players can set that standard and the youngsters must follow."

Victory for Chelsea was their first at home in the Premier League under Lampard at the fourth attempt and was also their first clean sheet of the campaign.

Lampard added: "The reason we haven't won at home is because we haven't put together a 90 minutes to win at home. Today we put in a good performance. It was solid, comfortable, professional, it lacked more goals because we created enough chances to score three, four or five goals but we got our clean sheet which is something we've been striving for, so it was a good day all round and good for confidence in the dressing room."