Manchester United v Chelsea: Frank Lampard defends Mason Mount from Jose Mourinho criticism

Lampard surprised by former manager questioning Mount's selection

Frank Lampard defended his decision to put his faith in youth after former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho questioned his selections in their 4-0 opening weekend defeat at Manchester United.

Mourinho singled out Tammy Abraham, Andreas Christensen and Mason Mount – all of them aged 23 or under – by claiming that “for matches of this dimension you need a little bit more.”

The ex-Chelsea and United manager was appearing as a pundit on Sky Sports for the first time and Lampard expressed surprise at his assessment of the game, particularly at Mourinho’s mention of Mount.

“He didn’t like the performance of Mason Mount? Did he say Mason Mount? Well, I can’t drag people out of the medical room, whether they’re experienced or not,” the Chelsea manager said.

“These are the players we played today, and the players that were on the bench, in a game where we were clearly the better team for 45 or maybe 60 minutes. We made individual errors that led to four goals out of their five shots.

“That’s the harsh reality for us. I don’t need to be too concerned about what anyone else says pundit-wise or whoever they may be. They have to speak for themselves. At the same time, what’s clear is the squad is the squad we’ve got.”

Lampard was forced to leave out influential midfielder N’Golo Kanté, who was not passed match fit in time to start, but trusted the 21-year-old Abraham as his central striker rather than Olivier Giroud.

“Had we gone in at half-time 2-1 or 3-1 up, which we should have done, if we’d had a stroke of luck here or there, the game would have been completely different,” he claimed.

“In terms of the squad, we knew we couldn’t bring players in this summer, but I know and I believe we have got really talented young players.

“So let’s be clear – with the injuries we’ve got at the minute, and the fact we couldn’t bring in players, this is going to be a work in progress to a degree.”

“We’ll have to learn harsh lessons and correct them quickly. But what I felt today on the pitch and in the dressing room afterwards was that the players are disappointed.

“There were lots of elements of the game that I liked. There were four or five elements I didn’t like and they were fatal today for us.”