The Sun Newspaper

FRANK LAMPARD would need to be offered a job too good to turn down to tempt him back into management and give up the £1.8million in wages due from Chelsea.
When Lampard was sacked by Chelsea last month the club did not pay-up the remainder of his contract after a change of policy in the wake of coughing up huge sums to get rid of Jose Mourinho.

Frank Lampard has been replaced by Thomas Tuchel at ChelseaCredit: AFP

Instead they have kept his £75,000-a-week salary on the wage bill – with an agreement that will continue to be paid until July unless he takes a job elsewhere.
And that leaves Lampard in a position where he any offer of employment that comes in would potentially cost him a fortune.
The 42-year-old is understood to be happy to be taking a break from the game for a short period following his sacking, having had three highly-pressured seasons since becoming a manager at Derby.
The run to the play-off final with the Rams was followed by the major challenge of guiding Chelsea into a Champions League finish with a squad of youngsters and those he inherited from Maurizio Sarri.

The short turnaround between seasons meant the intensity didn’t ease off going into the current campaign, so he is now enjoying time with his family.
That was the major reason why Lampard did not push himself forward to be considered for the vacant job at Bournemouth when he would have been well-placed to get the role.
But also a part of the consideration was the fact it would immediately mean the money Chelsea continue to pay him would stop, which would cost him just under £2m.
In practice what it means is that Lampard would effectively be taking a pay cut if he was to get back into the game before next season.

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So it would have to be an offer which is too good to turn down which would tempt him back in over the foreseeable future.
Lampard was swiftly replaced by former Paris Saint-Germain boss Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge.
Blues stars Hakim Ziyech has praised Tuchel’s tactics since he was appointed last month.
And Antonio Rudiger has praised the ‘positive’ new manager for ‘knowing what he wants’.
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LEICESTER tore Liverpool apart five years ago this month on the way to their incredible Premier League title triumph.
Jamie Vardy’s deadly double at the King Power — including a wonder strike that left new Reds manager Jurgen Klopp on the verge of applauding it — did the job.

Leicester icon Shinji Okazaki is currently plying his trade at Huesca in LaLiga

In that Foxes side was Japanese star Shinji Okazaki — a fans’ favourite and cult hero who played his part in one of the most incredible sporting moments in history.
And ahead of reigning champions Liverpool returning to the East Midlands today, Leicester are once again involved in another astonishing title race.
For Okazaki, it proves Brendan Rodgers’ side are no longer improbable contenders after floating back down to earth following their 5000-1 2016  triumph.
The striker — now playing for LaLiga minnows Huesca — remains devoted to following his beloved Foxes and watches the majority of their games.

Now aged 34, he said: “I think Leicester are doing fantastically well.
“Vardy is doing well still which is incredible given how long he has been at the top level.
“There have been some injuries for the team but I saw their win over Fulham and that shows just how solid their football is at the moment.
“It doesn’t matter who is on the pitch and that is all down to Brendan Rodgers, who has got them dreaming of winning titles again.”

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Okazaki was a key part of the Leicester side that won the Premier League in 2016Credit: Getty Images – Getty
Okazaki spent four seasons with the club — his first being the surge to the title under ‘the Tinkerman’, Claudio Ranieri.
He admits to having regrets over his time there, despite more than playing his part in the overachieving squad.
But that title-winning campaign left him with winning qualities that will still be with a portion of Rodgers’ current squad.
Vardy, 34, who picked up 26 England caps, Danish star Kasper Schmeichel, Jamaican defender Wes Morgan, Christian Fuchs from Austria and former England Under-21 winger Marc Albrighton are the survivors at the disposal of Rodgers.
Okazaki said: “There was a lot of support for me at Leicester and I just have gratitude for those people, but during those four years I had to revisit my value as a striker.
“It is very difficult to improve that in a short space of time. There were a lot of struggles I had to go through playing in a different environment.
“I was able to contribute to the team winning but within me personally I wanted to push myself more so I could contribute more.
“But I was also proud and really thankful for the experience I had with the Premier League.

Okazaki scored a sublime overhead kick against Newcastle in the Foxes’ title-winning seasonCredit: Getty Images – Getty
“I then went over to LaLiga with Malaga and now Huesca but that was all because of my experience with Leicester.
Okazaki added:  “That has added to my confidence and tells me what my mindset should be — how to have a winning mindset and how to win coming from a losing position.
“At the moment we are trying to do the same as we did with Leicester. We are solidifying mentally and physically to move forward.”
It certainly would be another sporting miracle should Huesca — currently bottom of LaLiga having won just two games in only their second ever campaign in the Spanish top-flight — rival Leicester’s journey.
Okazaki’s experience came into play to help Huesca back into LaLiga last season by winning the Spanish second division title.
So which title means more? Leicester 2016 or Huesca 2020?
Okazaki explained: “It is very difficult to compare the two. In terms of goalscoring and what I did as a striker, the win with Huesca last year was big.

Okazaki formed a formidable partnership with Jamie Vardy at the King Power StadiumCredit: PA:Empics Sport

“But at Leicester I fitted in well and contributed on and off the pitch behind the scenes.
“As a Japanese player, the higher value of working well within a team would suggest the Leicester win, but I am comparing apples to apples. They were both valuable experiences.”
Rodgers will be hoping those survivors of the class of 2016 use their own experience to fire Leicester into a second, and arguably even more impressive, Premier League title shout.
Watch LaLiga, all in one place on LaLigaTV — available to Sky UK, Virgin and Amazon Prime customers across the UK from £6.99 a month.

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DAVID SEAMAN knows more than most how cup glory can ease league misery.
After winning the old First Division title in 1991, Seaman and Arsenal went seven years before their next and even finished as low as 12th in that time.

David Seaman has urged Mikel Arteta not to give up on the Premier LeagueCredit: Reuters

The former England star knows how cup glory can ease league miseryCredit: Getty Images – Getty

Fans were appeased during those dark days by silverware — one FA Cup, one League Cup, and a Cup Winners’ Cup in 1994 which could have been two but for Nayim’s infamous lob over Seaman the following season.
The Gunners now find themselves in similar circumstances under Mikel Arteta, with last campaign’s eighth-placed finish smoothed over by a record 14th FA Cup triumph.
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And this year, as they lie 11th ahead of Sunday’s visit of Leeds, their only hope of sealing Champions League football for next season will be through the Europa League.

But Arsenal legend Seaman — who lifted 12 trophies during his 13-year spell at the club — has urged boss Arteta to not allow the club to become merely a cup team.
Former keeper Seaman said: “Around 1993 we dropped off in the league but in the cups we were doing OK.
“When Arsenal are not challenging it is a bad season and we were well off it — and it wasn’t until Arsene Wenger came in that things started to change.
“And even then it took two years to win the league and the first Double.

It’s a dangerous game to play if you want to end your bad league form. You can’t just turn it on for the cup
David Seaman

“It’s maybe like what’s going on now. The team’s focus has changed towards the cups with the league out of reach.
“But it’s a dangerous game to play if you want to end your bad league form. You can’t just turn it on for the cup.
“You have to start building confidence in the league or you could be cut adrift.
“I like what I am seeing so far, the team just needs to be more consistent.
“We are getting performances and little runs, then we get beat and I think, ‘Really? We got beat by them?’.

Seaman remained a constant during the Gunners’ rebuilding phase in the mid-90s and he admitted: “At that time Man United were on a big run in terms of league titles and that determination to catch them and beat them was growing and growing.
“But my confidence took a massive hit in that period, from finishing mid-table in the league to losing to Zaragoza in the Cup Winners’ Cup final.
“And just like throughout my whole career, I always wanted to prove people wrong or shut them up. I always wanted to bounce back.”
Those qualities in the former England shot-stopper are exactly what Arteta will need if he is to wake Arsenal from their prolonged slumber.
They are on a run of three Prem games without victory and cannot fall back on the FA Cup this time, after the defending champions were knocked out by Southampton last month.

From what I see and hear he is the right man and he gives me confidence
David Seaman on Mikel Arteta

It may only be February but Seaman feels the clash with Leeds is a must-win for the North Londoners.
A boyhood Leeds fan, the Rotherham-born star started out at Elland Road and remembers a day of mixed emotions in 2004 as Arsenal won the league as the Invincibles while United were relegated, sparking a 16-year absence from the top flight.
How times have changed, with Leeds now above the Gunners in the table.
With the likes of Frank Lampard being sacked at Chelsea for a similar drop in form, many see Arteta as the next in line to face the chop.
But Seaman believes the Spanish coach is the one to rebuild Arsenal just like Wenger did in 1996.
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He added: “He definitely needs to be given more time. He is slowly sifting through the squad, getting rid of players he knows he doesn’t want.
“The board need to back him in the summer window and he needs his own team. The players he has currently, a lot of them he has inherited so it is difficult for him at the moment.
“From what I see and hear he is the right man and he gives me confidence. I’d be disappointed if they did sack him, we have got a good one.”
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LEICESTER boss Brendan Rodgers would have seen how Manchester City exposed Liverpool’s weaknesses and quietly smiled.
As the Northern Irishman knows, his Leicester side are capable of doing the same thing — without having to copy Pep Guardiola’s blueprint.

Jamie Vardy can drop back to link play but could revert to his more orthodox role, sticking up front in a bid to punish Liverpool’s defensive problemsCredit: AFP

Man City’s false nine Phil Foden was a constant menace for LiverpoolCredit: Getty Images – Getty

By keeping the likes of Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez wide, City were able to stretch Liverpool and exploit the space left by both Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson.
And what Phil Foden did as the false nine was highlight the space in between their midfield and defence with his constant movement.
While Alisson’s mistakes were key in the final moments, it was clear Liverpool were struggling to deal with City’s game plan.
Leicester’s approach will be similar but with a completely different set-up.

In recent seasons Jamie Vardy has evolved into the complete centre-forward who can drop deep and link up.
But we might just see him return to his old ways by stretching the game to exploit Liverpool’s slow makeshift defence.
Despite turning 34 last month, he is now smartly conserving his energy more to still have that explosive turn of pace.
And by doing that he will create that space between the defence and midfield bringing James Maddison into the game who can make things happen.

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He has five assists in the Premier League this season and does not shy away from a goal either.
But while Foden was forced to find that space, Maddison will have it made for him with Vardy’s pace along with Harvey Barnes and Marc Albrighton down the flanks.
So while Rodgers will set Leicester up differently to City they can still have the same effect and expose Liverpool’s weak spots.
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