Chelsea’s coach, Frank Lampard has called upon the Premier League to give the Blues team more of a rest ahead of the 2020/21 campaign.
With the 2019/20 Premier League rescheduling due to COVID-19, Chelsea has completed their domestic campaign with the FA Cup final defeat to Arsenal.
However, their season is not yet over as they have to make a trip to Germany next weekend for their Champions League last 16-second leg tie with Bayern Munich. Chelsea is trailing the Germans 3-0 going into the match at the Allianz Arena. This means qualification to the quarter-final stage is unlikely.
Nonetheless, even if they are knocked out, they will have less than a month before they are back in action for the 2020/21 Premier League season that is set to kick off on 12th September.
Chelsea has struggled with injures throughout the season. In recent weeks they have had several players suffering from muscle problems.
N’Golo Kante and Willian have been out with knocks. Meanwhile, Cesar Azpilicueta and Christian Pulisic picked up hamstring injuries in their loss to Arsenal.
Lampard “plea” to the Premier League
If the Blues are to start at the proposed weekend, they won’t get much time to rest before the new season. It is for this reason that Lampard has called out on the League’s officials to rethink their plans.
He said, “I am guessing we will be told on when we start and that will be dependent on ho we go against Bayern Munich. I am not forgetting that game. It is a big game for us and I am maybe caught up on today. The players need a bit of rest before we prepare for the game”.
“It’s not ideal if we carry on against Bayern and possibly go further. The players need a break to play at the level of a quality product that the Premier League is”.
“Worst-case scenario is if we don’t go through against Bayern, the 12th seems too early to start playing again. That is why we are pulling two hamstrings and having players pull out before this. I would like to think the Premier League will look seriously at that and at the start for next season”.
“I think we deserve it. As a Premier League club competing in the Champions League”. Concluded Lampard.