Frank Lampard insists he has no issue with Edouard Mendy communicating in French to his Chelsea defenders after watching his new signing keep a clean sheet in Saturday’s resounding win over Crystal Palace.
Second half goals from Ben Chilwell and Kurt Zouma, allied to a brace of penalties from Jorginho, helped Chelsea bounce back from their midweek Carabao Cup defeat against Tottenham.
Mendy made his debut against Spurs and was unable to play the starring role in a disappointing penalty shootout loss that was ultimately settled by Mason Mount’s costly miss.
The Senegal international was hardly troubled on his Premier League bow with Roy Hodgson’s obdurate side unable to muster a shot on target.
With fans, however, still absent from Stamford Bridge it was easy to hear the 28-year-old direct his backline in French, despite the presence of England international Ben Chilwell.
Asked about the potential communication issues after the match, Lampard replied: ‘I don’t know about Ben learning it, it’s been a long time since I learned French at school.
‘I think it’s a position we’re in at the moment. Edou speaks good English as well to be fair.
‘The organisation and focus of the back four plus Edou was very good today, regardless of language and that was a big bonus for us.
‘We’re bringing new players into the team, the back five is where you want to be solid, you want to see if it settles very quickly and today it looked good.’
