Lampard on FA Cup tie vs Leicester: "It doesn't fall short on me, the FA Cup is something we are going to give everything to [try and win]"
Sunday 28 June 2020 11:31, UK
Christian Pulisic has been challenged by Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard to produce the level of output to rival players like Raheem Sterling, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah.
The 21-year-old has made a big impact since the season resumed, scoring in Chelsea's wins against Aston Villa and Manchester City.
The USA international is Chelsea's second top scorer in the Premier League with seven goals despite being limited to 13 starts.
Lampard says he understands the importance of keeping his age under consideration but believes Pulisic has the talent and must aspire to reach the level of the league's top wide attackers.
"I think he can be a really big player, because he broke through at such a young age in Germany and he made a big move, obviously expectations rise but you have to keep the age in consideration," Lampard said.
"There is no doubt about his quality, we can see that and he is very keen to improve. He's particularly hungry at the minute because he missed some time with an injury.
"If he looks at players around him that have made that sort of a jump, he has the ability like Raheem Sterling to produce numbers from wide areas, like [Mo] Salah and [Sadio] Mane. He understands the work that needs to be done to do that. He definitely has the talent, he needs to get to that level.
"I'm delighted to have him at the minute, he works hard everyday, he has to set his sights as high as he possibly can."
Lampard goes into Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final against Leicester knowing he is potentially just three wins away from his first trophy as a manager.
He recalls how Chelsea's first trophy under Jose Mourinho, a League Cup triumph in 2005, set the precedent for success in the Premier League.
"[Winning the first trophy] was very important to us at the time because we were a team of not many winners, we didn't have too many titles between us, we were a relatively young team. Jose brought that mentality to us and winning the first one obviously helps you to push on.
"In our team I feel we have a mixture of players who have been here and won a lot and some younger players who haven't done that, in my managerial career I haven't. I recognise the importance of that, that's what we are here for, to win things at a club like Chelsea.
"It doesn't fall short on me, the FA Cup is something we are going to give everything to [try and win]. We have a difficult game against Leicester of course, we know the quality they have but we have to focus on trying to go as far as we can, it would be a big boost if we got further."
