Frank Lampard says Jose Mourinho was wrong to say that his Chelsea legacy was tarnished by joining Manchester City in 2014, but he holds no grudge with his former boss.
Mourinho’s appointment at Tottenham, Chelsea’s fiercest rivals, stole the headlines this week, where he goes down as the club’s most successful manager.
While with the Stamford Bridge side, the Portuguese claimed he would never join Tottenham, comments that have resurfaced this week following his decision to do just that. And Mourinho’s history has come under further questioning after he suggested that Lampard’s Chelsea “love stories” were over when he netted against the club while playing for City five years ago.
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Although Lampard believes Mourinho was in the wrong to make such a statement, Lampard holds no animosity towards the ex-Real Madrid and Manchester United manager.
“At the time I didn’t feel it was quite right, I have to say that. It was directly after the match and sometimes the emotions of the match can affect the comment or type of comment,” Lampard told reporters at Cobham Training Centre.
“The bigger picture on that one for me is the love story or not is probably always decided by the fans and the club. It has proven now I am here managing the club but even then I think a lot of people understood how I felt about Chelsea, always did, always will do, regardless of the year at Manchester City. I have got no problem with that.
“I think it was more a comment made in the emotions after the match. I think the reaction of me going to Manchester City, which was something I was concerned about after 13 years here.
“I wondered at 36 whether a year there was something I should take on because of what I feel about this club. And then my professional head, the challenge of it and the period I had where I wasn’t going to be playing before going to New York FC, all came together and made me take a decision which was quite tough at the time.
“But to see then the feeling I got from the Chelsea fans on that day was an emotional thing for me and it hasn’t stopped from that day.”
