Lampard Rubbishes Age Doubts

Frank Lampard has hit back at critics who claim Chelsea's squad is past it, and declared that there is more to come from the Premier League champions. Carlo Ancelotti's men have started the new campaign the way they finished the last one: with three successive victories, including 6-0 routs of both West Bromwich Albion and Wigan Athletic, while they are yet to concede a goal.

Much has been made of the age of the Blues' senior men, like 32-year-old Lampard, centre-back John Terry, 29, and striker Didier Drogba, who will be 33 in March. However, the England midfielder, who is currently sidelined by a hernia problem which forced him out of tonight's opening UEFA EURO 2012 qualifier against Bulgaria at Wembley, has rejected any suggestions the Chelsea players are over the hill.

Speaking to the October edition of the club's official magazine, Lampard declared: "It is a load of rubbish when I hear talk about there only being one or two years left in our spine. This has been going on for a year or so. Sometimes that is mind games from other managers or press talk, and we proved them wrong last year.

"We have got players here who are experienced, and you can't buy experience in football - look at Didier, he is a specimen and he will overpower any 24- or 25-year-old. People have been waxing lyrical about Paul Scholes, and rightly so, because if you take him out of the United team now, they will want to replace him and they probably won't be able to."

Lampard may have a stacked trophy cabinet, but he has maintained his hunger for more success. "Every year I set my goals again, I don't lose any ambition or drive," he said. "I would love to win the Champions League one day, but I would love to win more Premier League titles as well, so it's quite easy to self-motivate.

"I think also that, the older you get, the more you appreciate what you have got as a footballer. I think it's one of my strong points that I always want to do more, because you don't play forever. If I can keep my level up to the way I am playing now, I believe I can go on playing for many more years."

With 14 goals from the opening three Premier League matches, things are certainly going to plan for Chelsea, who saw experienced midfielders Joe Cole and Michael Ballack leave on free transfers during the summer.

"I think our game feels more natural now - you can see that from the way we finished last season and started this one," Lampard reflected. "Don't get me wrong, we had difficult moments last season when it wasn't flowing, but it became more natural to us and after winning the double and celebrating that, I think we came back here in the summer wanting to step up again to another level."

Lampard also paid tribute to Ancelotti, who delivered the club an historic double in his first season. "The manager is very involved - his method, his training, his personality and his calmness is something the players have related to more and more over the last year or so, and that's making us stronger as a unit," he said.

Frank Lampard Will Be Fit For West Ham Clash

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has revealed that Frank Lampard will be fit for the Premier League clash against West Ham on Saturday after recovering from a hernia operation.

The midfielder went under the knife in Germany two-weeks ago, ruling him out of England's Euro 2012 qualifying games, but is expected to be ready for the trip to Upton Park.

The Italian revealed to the Daily Star on Sunday: "For sure, Frank will be fit for the West Ham game."

And Ancelotti denied that Lampard deliberately put club before country after the 32-year-old pulled out of the national squad for the matches against Bulgaria and Switzerland.

"No, we didn't decide at the start of the season to do this now," Ancelotti added.

"After the Stoke game, Frank was in a lot of pain.

"So he decided, after talking to the club doctor, to resolve and remove the problem immediately."

England's Frank Lampard Dismisses Two Holding Midfielders System

As Fabio Capello prepares to send England out in his much‑criticized 4-4-2 formation at Wembley against Bulgaria in the opening Euro 2012 qualifier, Frank Lampard has dismissed the 4-2-3-1 system favoured by the elite international and club teams, who include the World Cup winners, Spain, and Internazionale, the European champions.

The midfielder told Chelseafc.com: "Because football has become a bit more tactical and organized, it is about becoming harder to beat and teams want two holding midfielders. I don’t like the system too much. I think one holding midfielder, if they are good at their job, is enough and I find if you have two in a straight line then it doesn’t give you so many angles to play through midfield.

"I always think it is better to have people at different angles, which means one being deeper and the other two taking up different positions [further forward]."

Spain employed Sergio Busquets and Xabi Alonso as their defensive screen, and in the World Cup final faced Holland, who had Nigel de Jong and Mark van Bommel in the role. Internazionale benefited from Javier Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso during their successful Champions League campaign.

Yet Lampard, who is injured but lined up in central midfield in Capello’s 4-4-2 during England’s disappointing World Cup, is unsure how much security two dedicated holding players offer.

He said: "Playing against two holding midfielders hasn’t really made a difference for me, because the opposition can’t have players everywhere. If you are clever about your movement, if two players want to sit and hold all the time then you can make angles to the side of them and you can still play through them. It depends really on the quality of the players.

"Formations do generally go in cycles. In the 90s it was 4-4-2 and then it changed and I think we [Chelsea] were probably the instigators as much as anyone in England in making it 4-3-3 when [José] Mourinho was in charge."

Chelsea Consider £5m Move For French International Centre Back

Chelsea may make a January move for experienced Roma centre back Philippe Mexes as Carlo Ancelotti looks to beef up his defensive options. Having sold Ricardo Carvalho to Real Madrid the Italian does not have many options at centre back and should the club lose either of their first choice pairing of John Terry and Alex then they do not have a wealth of options to fall back on.

The 28 year old French international is reportedly upset at the potential lack of first team football at Roma after the arrival of Nicolas Burdisso at the Stadio Olimpico and the former Auxerre man, who is out of contract in the summer, has stated “If I don’t find space in the first half of the season then I may decide against renewing my contract”.

The Stamford Bridge boss is an admirer of the battling defender and knows him well from his days as AC Milan boss and he may decide to make a move when the transfer window re-opens and could capture him for as little as £4m and Roma boss Claudio Ranieri appears to not be standing in the way of his potential departure.

After six years in the Italian capital a move to the Premier League may well be tempting for Philippe Mexes who is also thought to be a target of Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.

Daniel Sturridge Flies To Pearce's Rescue

Stuart Pearce’s side battled their way to within touching distance of next summer’s European Championship finals.

Daniel Sturridge’s superbly taken first-half goal leaves England needing to beat Lithuania in Colchester on Tuesday to almost certainly book a qualifying play-off for next season’s tournament in Denmark.

Pearce chose not to start with ­Arsenal youngster Jack Wilshere, who made his senior England debut last month.

But Manchester United’s shock £7m signing Bebe picked up his first Under-21 cap for Portugal.

David Simao had the first effort for the hosts eight minutes in but his long-range strike flew well over the bar.

The cagey opening to a game both sides needed to win was summed up 24 minutes in when England keeper Frank Fielding was booked for time wasting.

England should have gone ahead just after that when Danny Welbeck tapped in Kyle Walker’s cross – only for the flag to be incorrectly raised for offside.

But they snatched the winner on 32 minutes when highly-rated midfielder Tom Cleverley played in Sturridge and the Chelsea man chipped keeper Rui Patricio.

Bebe was largely disappointing for the home side but he tested Fielding for the first time with a shot in the 65th minute that the Blackburn man beat away.

Portugal then began to crank up the pressure but England held firm to pick up all three vital points.

Kalou Nets In Africa

Salomon Kalou scored the 12th international goal of his career as Ivory Coast began their qualification campaign for the next African Cup of Nations with a win.

The Elephants, under Sven Goran Eriksson's successor Francois Zahoui, beat Rwanda 3-0 at home with all the goals coming from Premier League-based players.

Kalou's goal was the second of the game when he converted a cross with a shot into the left-hand corner on 21 minutes. It was his 36th cap. Yaya Toure and Emmanuel Eboue were the other scorers. Didier Drogba attended the match but was not part of the on-pitch action.

Ivory Coast's next match is in October. Nigeria, with John Mikel Obi in the squad, are in action at home to Madagascar tomorrow (Sunday). The Super Eagles are yet to name a new permanent coach. Swede Lars Lagerback, who led them in an unimpressive World Cup, left at the end of his contract.

In Saturday's Under 21 football, defender Slobodan Rajkovic, who is on loan at Vitesse Arnheam, played in Serbia U21s' 2-2 home draw against Croatia. Serbia will not qualify for the European Championships.

Youth Report: Coventry City 1 - 1 Chelsea

Chelsea faced a tough Coventry side this weekend, losing a one-goal lead established by Philipp Prosenik in the first half.

Both sides were committed to attacking, entertaining football throughout in front of an impressive crowd on a sunny afternoon at the Alan Higgs Centre.

Rohan Ince and Billy Clifford both featured for the first time since the FA Youth Cup Final, playing 45 minutes a piece.

City was first to find to the net, despite the referee already blowing his whistle. Jonson Harris lobbed Jamal Blackman on that occasion, while the Chelsea keeper played to the whistle instead of attempting to stop the ball.

George Saville then forced two consecutive and acrobatic saves from Coventry keeper Lee Burge but it took until the 33rd minute for Chelsea to find the net.

When the hosts appealed for a freekick on the right flank, the referee waved play on, allowing the Blues a chance to counter.

Devyne then set up Prosenik with a superb ball before the goalscorer expertly slotted home to give Chelsea the lead.

The Under 18s went into the break 1-0 up and boasted the better play at the start of the second-half. It was Coventry who'd find the net next though.

With 66 minutes gone the hosts pulled one back, equalizing the game. A cross from Aaron Phillips eventually fell to Harris who drilled a shot under Blackman and into the back of the net.

Chelsea failed to find a second goal as both sides battled for possession in midfield, despite having the better exchanges in the latter part of the game, and the game ended 1-1.

'It was a really tough away game,' said youth team manager Dermot Drummy.

'There was a lot of tackles and it wasn't a very flowing game but the boys are competing, so I am pleased with the performance.'