Ep 2: Teenage Kicks | Frank Lampard: Coming Home

There's a lot of concerns in the fact that we've had two games in the league. One, I thought we actually played well but obviously made mistakes to lose against Manchester United. And then a draw against a good Leicester team. If we'd have been more clinical in front of goal in these last three games, I think we would have possibly had three wins. We wanted to win. We needed a win. Players are confident going into the game against Norwich. Of course we're looking for our first win. What we do need to do is sustain performance for longer periods in the match and obviously be more clinical when we're on top. I was very clear that I would never be looking at age as a reference of whether I pick someone or not. It had to be how you train. But also you want to see the growth of the younger players and how they handle at this level in the Premier League, which I think was the first time for a lot of them. Chelsea's search for a first win of the season takes them to Carrow Road to face Norwich City. The win at Norwich was certainly a great feeling. I remember it very well because the idea of the early goal for Tammy had been spoken about quite a lot in the games against Manchester United, against Liverpool. The early goal for him was a big deal for me on an individual level. I felt very happy for him. And then to see the game, how it panned out, I thought we'd play some good stuff. The energy in the team, the quality of the goals. Frank Lampard gets his first win as Chelsea manager. To get the first win of the season is obviously a confidence boost for the team. We worked hard, we put in some good performances until then. And so to get that first win and see the players be able to go and celebrate with the fans after the game and to get a positive boost was a big deal. It's definitely dangerous to go up against teams that have just come up early in the season. And we will have to be on our game to beat Sheffield United as we did with Norwich. It's one of the sort of defining games for me. And when I look at how it panned out, because it was a pretty comfortable first half for us. Scored two goals, Tammy gets two goals, he's in good form. And from that point there, really, I think if with a settled team, a Chelsea team, as we should be, that game should be seen out. It was one of the games early in the season that made me understand the big challenge that was ahead. So it was quite an eye-opener to me to see with an early goal in the second half, and obviously conceding late, and how it changed the feeling within the group. We are a pretty young team. We are trying something different. At times there will always be little strains and difficult periods in that sort of process. Lessons to be learned after that game. Jodie Myerson is the assistant head coach. We have a really close relationship from our playing days. He obviously has a great link with the academy here and was very successful, which is obviously a huge strength for his from within the club. It's an amazing feeling. Obviously, I think a lot of people know that this is my club, my team that I supported as a boy and was lucky enough to go through the ranks from an eight-year-old to the first team, including the five years I had at the academy last year. It definitely feels like I'm coming back home. The main word, if you like, is opportunity, because the gaffer certainly won't hand out minutes or debuts or anything like that. What it does do is it does give you opportunity, because there is people in the building, in our staff, that take a keen eye and are passionate about young players. My relationship with Joe goes back years, and because of that, when Frank used to come in to the academy every now and then, obviously he got to know Joe a little bit more. Probably had my most enjoyable and successful spell of my whole coaching career when myself and Jodie worked together previously, so I was delighted to get the opportunity. I think Joe and Jodie are obviously very important in terms of the young players, because of the knowledge they have of them, having worked with them closely in the academy. The fact that you've got me, Joe, that would be watching most of the games, knowing all the players obviously helps, because sometimes when you're going at a new club and you have to kind of start from scratch and start trying to see who the main players are, we obviously have our opinions of players already that are in the academy. Hi, my name is Mason Mount, been at the academy since I was six. So what do you do? Top corner, top bin zone. This will always be my dream as a young kid. Tammy Abrahams got another. I've been at Chelsea since I was seven. Mikaio Tamori wraps it up, the youth cap is Chelsea's again. It is important that the young players over there realise that this is an opportunity, and one that they should be ready to grasp, because if they do well and they impress, they'll get time in the first team. I set myself a target from six years old, that I wanted to be in the first team, and that never changes. That's always a massive goal for me. Here's Mount. What a way to score your first Chelsea goal. Chelsea is at under eight, three straight Premier League games in which he scored. It's Alonso though, back in from him. It's Abraham! Three-nil. Here's Abraham, looking for his hat trick. Tammy Abraham! Oh, what a goal. You just never doubted it. Is it to Mount? Is he going to get his customary goal? Mason Mount, yes he is. It is a magnificent result for Chelsea, who have blown walls away here. They've beaten them by five goals to two. You know, the free academy was their first season in the Premier League in Chelsea. You know, we scored and we kind of helped the team win the game. With youth, you can breathe some energy into a performance, into a team, into a period. And I loved that, and I could feel it. I was very aware of the sense of the fans up at walls when the young lads were scoring, and how they sort of serenaded them a bit at the end of the game, and all the talk that came about the younger players. And that excites me, but it's never been my absolute focal point of where I want to be here at the job. I think that would be the naive thing to be. It was more that these players had shown enough to me that they deserve to play. And we haven't seen a clean sheet here now, because they've made it count. Stick, and it's Robertson who swings it in, and Firmino pops it in, and wouldn't you just know it. So we went into the game against Grimsby off the back of losing against Liverpool at home, which was a tough loss for us. I changed the team. I gave some younger players a game and some debuts, and it was a very convincing win, as should be expected at home to Grimsby. But that gave us a nice, positive platform. What a way to get your first Chelsea goal. It's a beauty. It's literally like you're all just mates having fun going up, but you're playing for Chelsea's first team. Yeah, I mean, it's a great atmosphere when all the fans can see that the academy players are playing on the pitch and not just coming on for the last five, ten minutes. They're actually starting, and we're doing well. I was very proud at Grimsby of the young players that we had. Not only the players that started and made debuts, Billy Gilmore, Mark Geraghty, Rhys James, but to see Callum back in the fold, to see Tino come on and Ian Mattson and improve the team, I think, when they came on with their energy and their quality. It was brilliant. It's good to hand out their debuts. They all look very, very comfortable, and now this is all part of their early journey, and hopefully we'll see them improve and get more minutes. Over the next games against Brighton, a really difficult game against Lille. Tamori, Abraham, it's in, and there's no flag. Well, there is a birthday present for Tammy Abraham. 22 today, and in the 22nd minute, he gives Chelsea the lead. He's reaped to a pass blocked off. Chip for Hudson-Odoi, three for Abraham. Can he get this under control? Abraham lofted it over Gunn. Where's it going to end up? Oh, cleared off the line. Did it cross the line? Goal's gone in. We found really good form. We found a consistency and relationships within the team that were playing well and working. Showing that he can score goals now twice in the Championship. Now he's showing that he can score goals in the Premier League. Naturally, when it goes with England's squad, I think he has all the attributes to go there and be successful. He deserves it because he's been a dream to work with day in, day out for the last 15 months or so. They've got big smiles on their face, which is great. Plus for us, Ross has been there obviously a while. Against Dest, his international team-mate. I mentioned earlier here, I'm talking about the lessons of Sheffield United, the feeding against Wolves earlier in the season. But then there's a game that comes along and tests you to the extreme. Against Ajax, we couldn't be anything but spot on. And then the players delivered. I have to give credit to the younger players that forced their way into the team. Some at the start of the season, some during the season and played huge parts. And it's a success story of the season, certainly, to have had individuals that have managed to have a lot of experiences this year. It made me very happy. I've just been shown a picture of Tammy and Mason, who were on the billboards in Piccadilly Circus. Those boys came in as six and seven-year-olds. And that's an incredible sort of story and journey that those players have been on. Our young players have all got to look up to those guys and think, right, I want to be on that billboard. I want to be in Chelsea's first team. That's what's got to drive them on to be the best player they can be. This has always been my dream as a young kid. Growing up, being in the academy, obviously playing at Stamford Bridge and scoring.