Lampard has allowed Chelsea stars 'freedom' to express themselves – Jorginho

The midfielder is enjoying life under a Blues legend, with the team now “creating more chances” after a mixed 2018-19 campaign under Maurizio Sarri

Jorginho has praised Frank Lampard for giving his Chelsea players the “freedom” to express themselves on the pitch at the start of the season.

Lampard was drafted in to replace Maurizio Sarri in the Stamford Bridge hot-seat on July 4, after a successful first year in management at Derby County.

Sarri walked away from the Blues of his own accord to take the top job at Juventus, but had proved a divisive figure during his brief stint in west London.

The Italian guided Chelsea to a third-place Premier League finish and a Europa League triumph, but his rigid tactics and predictable section policy were often called into question.

Lampard was unable to inject any fresh life into his new squad due to a transfer ban during the summer, which led him to make the bold decision to promote a number of academy stars into the senior fold.

The likes of Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori have all thrived, with Chelsea defying pre-season expectations to emerge as genuine top-four contenders once again.

And Jorginho claims a number of Blues stars have been unshackled under Lampard, with a focus on being more direct and getting the ball forward quickly.

“We are playing forward more and playing quicker as well,” he told Chelsea’s official website.

“My role is not very different from last season but as a team, we are playing a different way, playing forward more, basically, and not just with short passes.

“We run more and maybe we create more chances so that’s the difference.

“Frank lets us play more to our abilities and he wants us to play how we feel on the pitch. It’s not just ‘do this, do that’ so we have the freedom to do more by ourselves.”

Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic and N’Golo Kante have shared four of Chelsea’s last nine goals across all competitions between them, helping ease the scoring burden placed on first-choice centre-forward Tammy Abraham.

Ahead of a crucial home clash with West Ham on Saturday, Jorginho added on his increased responsibilities in the attack: “It’s very important for us midfielders to score goals and Frank keeps asking us to get into the box.

“He keeps pushing us to do that, which is a good thing for us and for the team because the more players that can score is better for our team.”

After their latest Premier League fixture, Chelsea will look ahead to Aston Villa’s arrival at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

Click Here: liverpool mens jersey