Frank Lampard gave insight into his approach to managing summer signing Christian Pulisic after the American winger scored his first Chelsea goals in a 4-2 win at Burnley.
Chelsea extended their winning run to seven games with the 4-2 triumph – with Pulisic the protagonist after a perfect hat trick got him off the mark in a Blues shirt.
The win didn’t come without a nervous end, though, as Jay Rodriguez and Dwight McNeil halved the lead in the last five minutes.
Despite the loss of their clean sheet, Lampard thought his side were always in control.
“This is a really tough place to go and the way we controlled the game, our midfield combinations and movement, was beautiful to watch,” enthused Lampard to Sky Sports. “I really enjoyed watching them today.”
The Blues boss made a big decision to give Pulisic a first league start since August, but it was one that paid off. However, Lampard says it was not an easy decision to bring him back into the lineup – which was their only change from the Champions League win over Ajax in midweek.
“He had a week’s break this summer. He arrived for a big price and wanted to come straight back in but at the same time why am I going to throw him in? So I have to do it in the right way and get the best out of him. I’m delighted for him.
“It’s a balance, I always think one, two or three games ahead. But there’s an argument that we are doing okay, they are hungry, and I felt one change was enough today. It’s important we keep our feet on the ground. We played well but we can play better.”
The former England international also admitted that he didn’t mind the fact that they conceded two goals, insisting it was a night for positivity.
“I will be the first to criticise sloppy goals, and they were. But not tonight because of the way they played, their movement on the ball, there were so many great things to admire. I’m not letting that in the dressing room tonight, we came to a really tough place and won comfortably.”
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