“He showed it today” – Lampard full of praise for Chelsea’s 19-year-old UCL debutant

Lampard praises Faustino Anjorin after his European debut for Chelsea

Speaking in the post-match interview (h/t Football.london) after their Champions League fixture on Tuesday, Frank Lampard hailed youngster Faustino Anjorin after he made his European debut for Chelsea.

Chelsea started a comparatively weaker side against FC Krasnodar in the UEFA Champions League dead-rubber on Tuesday.

The Blues had already qualified for the knockout rounds on matchday 4 and won the group on matchday 5. This gave Lampard the luxury to hand out minutes to some of the younger members of the Chelsea squad.

One of the surprises when seeing the team-sheet was the inclusion of 19-year-old Faustino Anjorin, who had never made a start for Chelsea before Tuesday.

Anjorin had come on as a substitute once in the Premier League and once in the EFL Cup last season, and was included in the Chelsea matchday squad this week due to the injuries to Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi.

The youngster played 80 minutes in the Blues’ 1-1 draw against the Russian side and won the praise of his manager, who lauded his European debut.

“In training he had shown us last season a real ability to step straight into the level in terms of his ability on the ball. He showed it today in the way he receives the ball and how he moves with it very quickly, his physical attributes to protect the ball.”

Lampard then went on to say in the interview that Anjorin will get better with time and will be a part of the first-team picture more due to injuries in the squad.

Chelsea now have back to back away Premier League games as we face Everton on Sunday before a trip to Molineux on Tuesday. Anjorin can expect some minutes if fatigue takes a toll on Lampard’s first-team.