"LONG WAY TO GO!" Frank Lampard REACTS to Coventry's INCREDIBLE start to the Championship!

Frank is the greatest Chelsea player ever. He is one of us. He's done a fantastic job at Coventry City. Yes, we're delighted to be joined live on drive by the highest scoring midfielder in Premier League history. Chelsea's all-time top scorer and of course the gaffer of Coventry City. Hello and good afternoon to super Frank Lampard. Frank, how you doing? Good afternoon, lads. Yeah, I'm very well, thank you. Good. Thank you so much for coming on. The last time you and I had a chat, it was me, you and Beckham having a chat at the weekend. I haven't got a question on the back of it. I'm just gloating. I know. You know what, Andy? I was listening to you after and you were telling the story on the radio and you left out the bit where you absolutely dropped me the minute that Beck talked to you. He didn't mention that. He was being so lovely. It was all great. Come on the show. We'll have a chat. And then Beck talks over in his tanned leather and Andy just went, nope, move on to the next one. Frank, you know that did happen. Sounds like you, that. Frank, I'll tell you what did happen, right? I'll tell you what did happen. While we were chatting, I just felt this huge bead of sweat start at the top of my forehead and slowly start to make its way down. And at that moment, I was like, I've got to move on. I've got to move on. He's obviously a teammate of yours, so it doesn't happen to you. But you've been in a room many a time with Beck. Do you just see people acting so weird when they're around him? Yeah, I do, actually. I clocked it as I walked in the room there. You're right, I don't hang about him that much. He's obviously all over the world, but he has got that certain thing about him, doesn't he? So I understand why I got dropped, mate. I do get it. Shocking for me, that. That's so not what happened. Just on that, I was lucky enough to see the first Oasis one at Wembley and then the last one as well. I mean, I just had an unbelievable time. We've got Ritchie Ashcroft joining us live. You were there both times, as I mentioned. As far as gigs go, do you go to a lot? And where does that rank for you amongst the best gigs you've ever been to? I don't go to too many, actually. Not these days. I've been to a few, but it ranks right at the top. I thought it was the best ever. As I say, I haven't been to so many. But the first time I went, I was just blown away. I was absolutely blown away by everything. The whole atmosphere, everything. Lucky enough to go a couple of times, like you say. I love the lads. They're brilliant. It's great having them back, the whole band. It was a privilege to be there, I have to say. Loved it. It was great. Right, we've got loads to talk to you about. Thanks so much for coming on, Frank. We have to talk about your side, Coventry. Top of the Championship. I'd like to point out that you agreed to come on our show before you were top. It's not one of those TR exercises you're doing. But I remember when I was speaking to you last week, just before I dropped you for Bex, we were talking about how well Coventry are doing at the moment. And you said it's a really good group of players, a really good squad. But having said that, the Championship obviously is the hardest league to get out of. How has the season been for you, and pre-season, so far? Yeah, sorry. Hello, Benny. I haven't said hello to you much. No, don't worry. There's Andy taking up all the airways. Did you notice I dropped Benny for you, Frank? Did you notice that? Yeah, no, we're going really well. I hate to tempt fate as well, so it's not just like you say, the three wins that we had last week that gets me on the call. But we are playing well, the boys. We had a good pre-season. We obviously had a good second half of last season. They are a pleasure to work with, I've got to say. I've played in dressing rooms, worked in dressing rooms. I feel fortunate I've walked into this group of lads because they're so keen. They want to train, they train hard, they're very together. All those things, all the basics that you can't have success without. Last year we moved on a lot. I think we were unlucky in the Sunderland games. I thought we played well in those, but that's the way it goes. We just missed out. We might have a bit between our teeth with the break and coming back and having another go at it. We've kept a lot of the players of the squad, really. We've got good continuity in players. There was a bit of talk around over the summer. We've managed to keep hold of good players and bring a few others in. We're playing well at the minute. We're on that wave where consistently creating chances, not conceding so much. Like you say, this league is so challenging. I know there's such a long way to go, but it's good. As a manager, you've got to enjoy these moments and just try and always keep trying to improve because we'll have different times through this season alone where this league is so hard. As you say, it's an endurance test. Frank, you said it there. You've scored 27 goals, which is absolutely ridiculous considering you've only played nine games. You've only conceded seven. I was chatting to a Coventry fan on the train because I'm up in that area. They said the biggest change this season is the work rate. Now, you just said it there in terms of that's something you try to drive pre-season because they're saying that that's the biggest difference is how hard everyone's working. They're chasing back. They're getting after teams. Is that one of the biggest differences you've found in pre-season? Yeah. I think actually from last season, to come in midway through the season, I think it's very common managers come in and they go, they need to work harder and they're going to look different with us and all that stuff. And we try to affect that, but it's not so easy in the middle of the season to try and get the uplift when you're going game, game, game. But I think we managed to do that last season. But yeah, we've certainly had the benefit of having a pre-season where you don't have to worry about games. You can purely focus on the fitness. We went to Portugal for a week, had a really good week's work. And I think those things are trying to just get buy-in from the players because, you know, out of a group of 20-plus players, some don't love running, some do. Some are somewhere in the middle. And to get them to buy-in and go, this is what it will look like if we can be that team that has that amazing work ethic. And they do get on really well. So they kind of run for each other. I think it was really clear to me last year when Leeds and Burnley were probably the two outstanding teams in the league. And they've obviously got a lot of sort of Premier League minutes in their teams already, but their levels of outputs were bigger than the others. And I think that was our challenge this year. Can we get fit pre-season so that we can try and reach those sort of levels ourselves? And, yeah, the lads have been great. They've worked hard. We're showing it in-game. The challenge now is can we keep showing that as we go game after game? Because we've come back from the break. We've got three games in a week again. So we've got to sustain it. You, of course, made it to the playoffs last season and came up just short against Sunderland in the semis. Is there a big motivation to put that right this season? And what did you learn from last season, Frank? Well, I learned that we are a good team in ourselves and we've got to back that. And it's important to be confident in that. So I'm not sure what the motivation is on that. I think probably, yeah, there's probably an underlying one where we felt the pain of it because the last-minute nature of it as well and the dressing room afterwards was so tough. And I felt for the lads because they're the ones that really put it in. So there probably is an underlying feel like that. But at the same time, I think we've just really sort of moved on to the next and we're really focused now. We've also got players like Haji Wright, who's now fitter than I've had him because he's had the benefit of the break. And he's flying at the minute, obviously. And some other players, Thomas Assante has come back really, really on top of his game. So as a coach, there's loads of work we can do, but you're as good as those lads that go out there. And at the minute, the boys, they are fit. They are producing. They all want to make the Premier League. They're playing in the Championship. They all want to play in the Premier League. Not so many of ours have done. So we just go with that motivation, really, and see where we can get to. You mentioned in there, Frank, and again, I watch commentary quite a lot because my eldest is there at Coventry Academy. But Haji Wright, I mean, he's shown a level of consistency that maybe wasn't quite there before. But as you said, he's the top goalscorer in the Championship. He looks hungry. He looks fit. I mean, what have you done with him? What work have you done with him to make him, obviously, as consistent as he's been? I think some of it is on and off the pitch. I think with Haji, I think when I've come in there, he's played predominantly on the left at Coventry. He's either a split striker playing on the left or on the left wing. And I think that, to be fair, has been maybe accommodating other players. And he was productive from that side of the pitch. I always felt, though, since seeing him and working with him towards the back end of last season, that he had all the attributes to play in the nine more central because he's got that great thing where he can be a real threat behind and run behind teams. But he can also sort of drift between lines and receive. And obviously, he can finish. So I felt that would be maximised by going there. So I think that's sort of the positional change. And then a lot goes down to Haji himself. He's got a real sort of smile on his face. He's enjoying his football. When he's aggressive, Haji, because he's got this great physique, when he's aggressive with it in a good way on the pitch, it can be a real challenge for any centre-back. So, yeah, a bit of a team effort, really. But Haji himself, I think the talent's there. And at the minute, he's confident. And he's gone away. Back now, got back into the America squad, which I'm delighted for him because of the carrot of the World Cup's there for him. And, yeah, just want him to keep going as he is. Thank you. Very kindly said we can have you till five. So we've got so much to cram in. After the break, we'll talk about your great moments at Chelsea. But I just want to move on to England and some of your former teammates, if that's OK. In fact, have a listen to this. This is from one of your former England teammates, Steven Gerrard. He's been speaking to the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast. And he had this to say about a former Premier League midfielder. I think Scolzi now, hand down, would be the best midfielder in the Premier League. Scolzi, for me, was very much an in-possession controller of a midfield controller of a game. He can switch the play. You get close and he can pop it round. You can play to the outside of his foot. He can switch the play, score important goals, make the last pass. He would have everyone terrorised. I think it's fair to say whoever you speak to, everyone will either say it was you, if you're a Chelsea fan, Gerrard, if you're a Liverpool fan, and, obviously, Scolzi, if you're a main United fan. Now, you can't pick yourself. That's unfair. I would pick myself, by the way, but you can't pick yourself. What do you make of what Steven said there? It was always the question about Lampard, Gerrard and Scolzi, that debate, but what did you make of Paul Scolzi as a midfielder? Incredible. I'll just reiterate what Stevie said there. My experience with Scolzi was just coming through as a young lad at West Ham. He was, obviously, that bit younger at the time and he'd arrive in the box a lot. I remember him just running off the back of me a couple of times at Old Trafford. Specifically, I was there and one minute you got him and then he'd arrive and he had this amazing quality. To reinvent himself and play deeper and have all the things there that Stevie said there in terms of it, that's why a lot of teammates will talk about him like that because when you train with him day in, day out, you see the level of quality, the appreciation, the pass. He could hit every pass. His awareness, goals in him, everything. It's a difficult conversation. I get asked that a million times, obviously, normally in a cab in London or something like that and they ask me, what do you think? I'm worried that they're going to be recording it and throw it on, but I never really commit to either of Stevie or Scolzi. I think both in their own ways are absolutely incredible and Stevie as well. When Stevie was on it, what he could do to you in terms of his pace and power as a midfield player and what he did for that club. So, full respect, I agree with Stevie. Scolzi playing any era would be one of, if not the best midfielders. Fred, what do you make of the current group of England midfield players? Because something that seems to have divided the nation and is certainly a topic of conversation is the balance of this three in midfield with the Declan Rice, is it? Obviously, Calvin Phillips for such a long time, Jordan Henderson, Cole Palmer. I mean, what have you made of this England midfield and who would be your three? Well, I don't know. I mean, that's for Thomas because he works with them, but I get the question about the balance because we do have the issue of lots of players that maybe for their teams are playing and you can see them as 10s or 8s and Thomas will be trying to find his right balance in themselves. I think Declan Rice picks himself because he's such an outstanding talent and what he's done deservedly so and he's an all-rounder. Finding the right player to play in the 10 is a difficult one. I think Henderson's done really well coming in and playing and giving a nice balance and something new for us to see and you kind of go, could that feel right? I understand Henderson being there for what he gives to the group because those things are huge on and off the pitch and I think he's playing really well to be fair at the minute as well. I think Thomas is probably going to have a look at that over the course of the next months towards the World Cup and see what he feels. It could all change, I think, but you can't... We've been in this conversation in my day a lot about finding individuals and who do you pick. Working on this side of the fence now as a coach I know that you sometimes have to make the hard decisions to get that balance right for the benefit of the team so we'll have to see how that one goes. Frank, we're going to have a little break. Before we do, do you remember beating Spain 1-0 obviously for England? Yeah, at Wembley. Do you remember you scored the goal? No, I honestly didn't. Do you know what? I didn't even know this was coming. Do you know what I'm going to do? Because Benny, every day, Benny comes in and he says that should have been my goal. I'm like, just let it go, Benny. Benny, tell me the details. I know you're going to a break, but did you get a nick on it? I can't remember the exact details. No, listen, I headed the ball and it hit the post and was going across the line and you do what all good midfield players should do and tap it in the empty net. I think it was spinning back out. It had to be hit, right? It had to be hit. It had to be done. Good goal. With TalkSport Drive. With Andy Goldstein. Monday to Friday afternoon from 4. On AM, on DAB, via the TalkSport app and on your smart speaker. TalkSport.