Chelsea boss Frank Lampard excited by Hakim Ziyech’s attacking qualities

Frank Lampard believes Hakim Ziyech’s willingness to attempt defence-splitting passes that other players reject can set him apart at Chelsea.

Ziyech starred on his full debut for the Blues, finding the net in Wednesday’s 4-0 Champions League win at Krasnodar.

The 27-year-old looks to be approaching full sharpness after a niggling knee injury, leaving boss Lampard purring on his game-breaking potential at Stamford Bridge.

Morocco winger Ziyech’s ability to ghost off the wing and create from a more central role boosted Chelsea’s fluidity in Russia, with Lampard suitably impressed.

“When we brought Hakim into the club it’s because I’d watched him a lot, and we’d played against them the year before,” said Lampard.

“And I knew his qualities that he could play as a winger that gives us real width, but also gives us the clever movements when he comes off the line.

“He can really produce important passes, assist-style passes, or break-the-line passes; passes that he takes on that maybe other players don’t.

“So he brings us something certainly different from what we have in terms of style.

“There were glimpses, more than glimpses, of it last night, and they were really positive signs.”

Chelsea’s £220million summer spending spree has generated a wealth of talent for Lampard, with one of the Blues boss’ biggest challenges to work out exactly how to fit together all those moving parts.

The former Chelsea and England midfielder remains unfazed by that task however, insisting that the congested calendar means all managers will be rotating regularly until at least the new year.

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Debut as a starter✅ 3 points ✅ First CL goal for @chelseafc ✅

A post shared by Hakim Ziyech (@hziyech) on Oct 28, 2020 at 2:06pm PDT

“With Hakim, I thought he was really good in Russia, especially when you consider that was his first start for months,” said Lampard.

“He hasn’t been fit so that was a really big plus from the evening.

“Not just myself but all the managers who are competing in European football at the moment are finding this a really heavy schedule of games.

“So we do need options, and in the attacking areas we do have options.

“We’re also searching for relationships, because some of the newer players are learning about each other and learning how we want to play.

“So I’ve got no problem with the options at the minute, and the players have to understand that when you play every three days consistent up until Christmas and beyond, then there will be some rotations at times and we’ll need everybody.”