FRANK LAMPARD admits he’s disappointed in Jose Mourinho’s criticism of Antonio Rudiger following Chelsea’s win over Spurs.
Son-Heung Min was shown a straight red card for kicking the centre-back during Sunday’s fiery match.
Frank Lampard has responded to Jose Mourinho’s comments about Antonio RudigerCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
And Mourinho lashed out at Rudiger over his reaction to the incident, with the defender falling to the ground clutching his side after Son’s studs made contact with his midriff.
The Special One sarcastically said: “Rudiger for sure is having scans in the hospital on broken ribs because it was really a violent situation.
“In some countries like mine for example with our culture we used to say ‘clever player’.
“But in this country, and one of the reasons why I fell in love with this country in 2004, is because we don’t call them clever.
“We call them other things that I refuse to call him. For me it is not a red card.
“I think the mistake of the ref is not to give a yellow card to Rudiger.
“In the Premier League I love there is no space for what Rudiger did. Stand up and play, man. This is the Premier League.
“Come on, do you think Rudiger plays the next game or do you think he’s injured? I think he plays.”
However, Lampard believes Mourinho was wrong to call out Rudiger, especially after the defender was racially abused by a Spurs fan in the wake of Son’s red card.
He said: “With Toni and this incident, to question him is disappointing.
“From what I heard and the post match that the Son was a red card. Not a brutal one, but a red card.
“I wouldn’t question Toni’s integrity on that. There were a couple of incidents that Spurs players went over in the box to try to win a penalty.”
Lampard also aimed a dig at Mourinho for allowing talented young players to leave Chelsea, with the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Mo Salah and Romelu Lukaku all failing to make the grade during his second Stamford Bridge spell.
Lampard was criticised by the Portuguese tactician after fielding the likes of Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham in the 4-0 opening day defeat to Manchester United.
However, the pair starred in the win over Mourinho’s Spurs, and Lampard insists he will continue backing his kids to overcome more experienced sides – unlike previous Chelsea managers.
Lampard added: “If we’re not careful and we don’t stick with the young players, we might end up in a situation like we were before where absolute top, world-class players in this moment were at Chelsea when they were 20/21 and managers didn’t stick with them.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
