Coventry manager Lampard granted an exclusive interview to Sky Sports. In his conversation with Jamie Redknapp, he reflected on his experiences working with Mourinho, Ancelotti and Villas-Boas, and discussed his coaching philosophy, player management, and the challenges Coventry faces after promotion to the Premier League. This article is the second part of the interview.

Other parts of the interview

Lampard: Mourinho's approach influenced me the most; his confidence was very real

Players are different now. He used to say, and I remember him saying it, that players' mentality has changed. He said you have to dig deeper with players, push them harder every day in training, and also pay attention to how they look after themselves. Perhaps they're not as... I remember he may have used a metaphor that sounded a bit harsh, saying players now are more like children. Do you think there's any truth to that? Compared to before, do you need to spend more energy managing young players, pushing them forward and guiding them? And perhaps not just on the pitch, but more in matters off the pitch.

Absolutely. I think the danger here is that you can be too harsh with players. But you also have to support them. Even when you feel the need to be harder on them, you always have to think: what outcome do I want? How can I help this player improve?

If you come in too strong and tell him, "You must..."

Are you talking about after the match?

I'm talking about the whole week. I'm talking about your daily life and your sleep. Football is your profession, so when you get home, you have to live up to the demands of a professional player. This has to reflect in how you sleep, how you manage your behaviour and all these things.

I think one of the biggest problems now is that too many players have too many voices around them—personal trainers, agents and all sorts of people. We were probably lucky in our era. We all came from football families, right? But apart from my father telling me how I played, there weren't many other voices. And my coach was the one making the decisions. Now there are too many things around players.

And social media.

Social media, absolutely.

Frank, if you were still playing now, how would you deal with social media? Would you use it? Would you look at it?

I'd probably try to stay away from it. Because what was the equivalent in our era was reading the newspapers. And then seeing your ratings—out of 10, getting a 3 or a 5.

I remember my first thought was: "Don't look." But later I thought, "Actually, better take a quick look, just in case."

So I think we all can't help it. Today's players definitely are like that too. They pick up their phones—it's natural. I could look too. But this might sound a bit silly, I think when you're playing well, you can look; when you're not playing well, don't look.

At the same time, stay humble and think: "What do I need to do to start playing better?"

I often talk about these things with players because I think some players now expect you as a manager to give them a purely tactical solution, explaining how they can get into the team or why things aren't going well. But sometimes you have to go back to the most basic requirements: "Lads, you have to give everything in every training session—you really have to give your best."

We've all seen those stories about Kobe Bryant, and I'm sure the players have too. There are some great quotes, maybe just two or three lines, like "the 4 AM club"—who's getting up at 4 AM, things like that. Sometimes I just hope players don't read those words and then leave them aside in their lives. You have to find your own way of doing things. Whatever your method, you have to do it. Because it really means everything.

Many of the best players, the truly great names, the players you see performing consistently at the highest level—in my opinion, they all have something similar.

Look at this. His style has improved a bit now. Sorry, sorry, this is from his Chelsea days. But his style has improved even more since then, Frank. This looks great.

A full black and white outfit.

This is a slightly different style, more like a business look. Seems like he's here for serious business, right?

Can we say we've all upgraded our style a bit at this age?

I think they call it a midlife crisis.

But we all do it in a positive way, right? Everyone does. He does too. I noticed the change in his style. Did you see how he looked? With that raised eyebrow. It's brilliant.

He always looked brilliant, Frank.

I really like him. He's completely different from José. José is intense, very demanding, as I just said. Carlo is more like a father; for me, he gives me a sense of support. So he might have provoked the same reaction in me that José did, but in a different way. His way is a bit gentler.

But he definitely has a hard side too. You know that. I didn't experience it so directly, but I saw it in the dressing room and in other situations. When I felt very down or very upset, I'd think, "What would Carlo do in this situation?" He would always stand firm. I think that's a very important part of his success.

This photo is very interesting. It looks like you two have a great relationship.

I think the expressions on our faces say it all, right?

Sometimes I feel that even if you don't have the best relationship with a particular manager, you can still learn from it. For example, that well-known incident against Napoli, which the manager discussed later. What you learn from those moments can be just as much as what you learn from one of José's famous half-time talks.

Absolutely, Jamie. And now I'm in that position myself as a manager. I don't want to say I've matured, but I've learned enough to look back and understand what the situation was like from the manager's perspective at that stage and what it was like from my perspective. I don't agree with all my reactions back then.

I was a player who always played consistently. I remember that later there were about 10 matches where I was on the bench. Every time there was a meeting, looking at the tactical board, I'd think, "Not me again, not me again."

It really bothered me at the time. But ultimately, I got over it. It was a difficult period for both the manager and me, just with different difficulties. I recently saw some of his comments, and I think he's also looking back and reflecting. That's what we all do.

You were probably around the same age as him then.

I remember, I think I was even slightly older than him.

Traducido por IA.

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