Frank Lampard berates journalist in stunning press conference exchange

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard is showing signs of feeling the pressure at Stamford Bridge as speculation on his uncertain future mounts by hitting out at a journalist asking a question about the confidence levels in the squad.

Having appeared to fix their weaknesses during a good run from late October to early December, Chelsea have lost five of their last eight Premier League games to slide into a mid-table position.

Lampard himself said he is ‘worried’ about the alarming run of results in the wake of the most recent defeat against Leicester, when he admitted that a number of his players had not even done the bare minimum – such as running, sprinting and generally covering ground.

Rumour has it that the 42-year-old Stamford Bridge legend, whose team seems to have got worse since a summer spend in excess of £200m, could lose his job if results don’t turn around sharpish. Chelsea are even heavily linked with Thomas Tuchel or Julian Nagelsmann as a possible replacement.

The particular journalist was Liam Twomey of The Athletic, whose question centred on the importance of having someone like Petr Cech around the squad on a daily basis.

“At a time like this, when confidence seems to be low in the squad, and lots of players, individually, seem to be struggling, how valuable is it to have someone else around the first-team, who, like you, had a very similar winning mentality as a player and similar experience in good and bad times at the very top level?” came Twomey’s question.

Polite, relevant and valid as it seemed, Lampard twitched as soon as the word ‘confidence’ was uttered, clearly highlighting his displeasure at what he perceives as a negative representation of his team. He then went on to berate the journalist, accusing him of biased and unfair reporting in a stunning exchange that only serves to underline the idea that he is feeling the pressure.

“I think their confidence would be shot if they were to read the pieces that you write at the minute,” a more than frosty Lampard replied.

“I read some of them and some of the confirmation bias you always reflect on games with is almost like a social media pundit to try and get a reaction in a negative way. I read the pieces when we were doing well, as well, and they didn’t go both ways.

"I think for a journalist to be objective would be a big start because if players do read it, I’d feel like that,” he continued, increasingly prickly. It was only then that he really focused on the original question about Cech and gave a more measured and calmer response.

Twomey took to Twitter afterward, explaining he was ‘reluctant’ to even respond, but insisting he disagrees with Lampard’s opinion on his objectivity and that nothing is personal.

For more from Jamie Spencer, follow him on Twitter and Facebook!