“It’s like a social media pundit to try and get a reaction in a negative way.”
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard criticised reputed reporter Liam Twomey of The Athletic in a tense press conference on Friday.
Lampard was visibly irked over some of the reporting done about his team in recent weeks as they have tumbled from the top of the table to eighth place.
The Blues have endured a torrid run of five losses in their last eight games leaving Lampard’s position as manager hanging by a thread.
The Chelsea record goalscorer spoke ahead of his side’s FA Cup clash against Luton on Sunday.
Twomey asked Lampard what it meant to have legendary keeper Petr Cech as part of his squad during this difficult period.
🗣 "Their confidence would be shot if they read the pieces you write at the minute. The confirmation bias is like a social media pundit to try and get a reaction."
Frank Lampard fires back at reporter Liam Twomey in his press conference pic.twitter.com/vcekiaM6je
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) January 22, 2021
Lampard chose not to answer the question initially and instead accused Twomey of writing ‘biased’ reports about his team.
“Well, to be fair Liam, I think their (the team) confidence would be shot if they were to read some of the pieces that you write at the minute,” said the Englishman.
“I read some of them and the confirmation bias that you always reflect on games with – it’s like a social media pundit to try and get a reaction in a negative way.
Chelsea’s 86-game unbeaten home Premier League run between March 2004 and October 2008 remains unmatched 💪 pic.twitter.com/SyjMRsfga5
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) January 22, 2021
“I read the pieces when we were doing well as well and they didn’t go both ways.
“So, I think for a journalist to be objective would be a big start because the players do read it.”
Having laid out his criticisms of the reporter, Lampard finally answered his original question.
“In terms of Pete (Petr Cech), I think his experience is vital,” he continued.
I’m reluctant to respond at all because I’m really not important to what’s happening at Chelsea (certainly not enough to be discussed in a presser), but I’ll just say I respectfully disagree with Lampard’s opinion of my objectivity.
Good or bad, it’s never personal 👍 #CFC
— Liam Twomey (@liam_twomey) January 22, 2021
“(It’s) vital for the club that we use our experiences because even in years that we were successful and we look back and we were holding trophies, there were tough moments in them.
“There were some solid squads in those years as well so we’ve been there before, we know what it takes to turn the corner so we work together on that.”
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