Lampard Preaches Patience For Kai Havertz
Frank Lampard is confident Kai Havertz will eventually come good in England and has asked for some patience for the 21-year-old amid an indifferent start to his Chelsea career.
Bar an encouraging display against Barnsley in the EFL Cup when he bagged a hattrick in September, Havertz has largely underperformed at Stamford Bridge since making a £71m move from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer.
The Germany international has made 16 appearances and scored four goals in all competitions but has found the back of the net just once in 10 Premier League games.
Havertz put in a below par performance against Everton over the weekend and was substituted in the 68th minute as Chelsea lost for the second time this season.
His performances have started drawing criticism from a number of fans but Lampard is adamant his summer acquisition should be allowed to settle.
"In the modern day there's going to be criticism of every player of every club that loses a game, or something went awry or a pass went astray, so we certainly should be patient with Kai Havertz from a Chelsea point of view, because he's a top-quality talent that's come into this league," Lampard told a news conference.
"He's playing on the right wing, he can play in any position across the front – he played off the right wing countless times before he signed for Chelsea and he can play in midfield also, so that's not an issue.
"We do have to be patient, not just with him, but any young player, because of the speed of the Premier League, so I've got no problem with Kai.
"If people want to jump straight on to criticise, just wait, give a young player time, whether it be a week or a month or six months or a year, whatever, because I know the player that Kai Havertz is going to be."
