LAMPARD: BRIGHT BEGINNINGS

Following the win over Hull, Frank
Lampard spoke about the excitement that
comes with a new season and the
atmosphere which it, coupled with the
return of Jose Mourinho, brought to
Stamford Bridge this weekend. However it
was characteristic of our long-serving
midfielder that he also discussed the
benefits of putting in hard work.
Lampard was one of prominent figures in
Sunday's game, not least when he scored
his team's second goal with a blistering
free-kick having not converted an earlier
spot-kick. It was practice in both of those
aspects of the game, plus the way
Chelsea had prepared for this opening
league encounter and the effort that must
now follow that were on Lampard's lips.
'It was a great start, we were very bright,
particularly in the first half when we
moved the ball very quickly and created a
lot of chances, and we have been working
on that pre-season,' he said.
'It was nice to see it come out in our
game and at 2-0 at half-time we were
comfortable. The second half was a little
bit down but the game was won. We were
so bright in the first half that maybe
sometimes there is a bit of a come down
in the second half but we were very
comfortable. We will work on that and we
will take the positives of the first half, look
how we can improve and try to keep up a
good start.'
Our all-time record goalscorer's free-kick
had shades of the one he fired past
Tottenham in the FA Cup semi-final in
2012 although not from quite such a
distance as on that Wembley occasion. It
did however have plenty of bend in its
trajectory.
'It was a long way out and I was debating
whether to take it on or not, and
sometimes you catch them and they fly
over the bar and other times they dip
down,' he noted, 'and I was pleased to
make amends for the penalty because the
goal gave us a bit of breathing space.
'I think the balls have been developed
over the years and we all want to see
goals and movement, and people like
Ronaldo and Gareth Bale and others on
the continent brought in that sort of strike
that moves the ball - and if you practice
it, sometimes you get your bit of luck.
'With the penalty, keepers are getting
better and better at them and it is harder
to keep scoring every one but maybe I am
bit rusty having not taken so many
through the pre-season. It is something
that I can go away and do and I am
pleased it didn't matter to the result.'
Lampard was in the starting line-up on
Sunday afternoon, as he had been on the
opening day in 2004 when Mourinho,
freshly arrived from Portugal first graced
the Premier League. The reception for the
new manager back then was good, but it
was nothing like the one nine years on.
'It was brilliant, the crowd loved it and he
loved it I would have thought,' said the
vice-captain. 'He was obviously very
professional and concentrated on the
game but it was a great atmosphere. We
know what the club means to him and
what he means to the fans.
'There is a lovely buzz around the place. I
am happy myself to be here and I was
very excited in the morning to get going
again and the whole stadium was buzzing
with the manager returning. You can see
what it means to him. All it needs now is
for us to go and perform consistently and
keep getting results.'