Frank Lampard says relationship with Bielsa is “normal”
Speaking in the pre-match press conference (h/t The Guardian) before Chelsea play Leeds United in the Premier League, Frank Lampard denied any long-standing rivalry with Marcelo Bielsa.
The talks of a ‘rivalry’ stem from 2019 when a Leeds staff member was caught spying on the training session of Frank Lampard’s Derby County, which led to an angry response from the then Derby boss.
Bielsa’s Leeds were fined £200,000 which led to the Whites fans belting out the infamous ‘Stop Crying Frank Lampard’ during the 2019 Championship playoff semi-final, which Derby County won.
Speaking about the impact of ‘Spygate’ on his relationship with Bielsa, Lampard says that their relationship is “more than normal“.
Our relationship is the same as it’s always been. I suppose we had one little tiff, but … with somebody who doesn’t speak the language there’s obviously communication problems and then you just have respect for each other. Our relationship is normal, more than normal.”
The incident took place when Leeds United were in the Championship and Frank Lampard was the manager of Derby County, and the English manager says he can look back to that incident as a fond memory.
Times have changed, and both managers are now managers in the Premier League and are impressing with their football on the pitch.
This will be the first time that Chelsea and Leeds United go head to head since 2004, when Leeds were relegated from the Premier League.
A win for Chelsea on Saturday would see them temporarily go to the top of the Premier League table above Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, both of whom play on Sunday.
