I want perfect 10

Posted Monday, May 07, 2012 by The Sun

I want perfect 10
CUP OF CHEER ... Lampard celebrates with John Terry at Wembley

FRANK LAMPARD picked up his ninth winners’ medal for Chelsea at Wembley.

Now the England midfielder wants to make it a perfect 10 in Munich.

Lamps, 33, has won every domestic honour going during his 11 years at Stamford Bridge.

But European success has eluded him — and he is desperate to end that long wait in the Champions League final on May 19.

Lampard is set to captain Chelsea against Bayern Munich in the absence of the banned John Terry.

He said: “I’ve won four FA Cups, three Premier Leagues and two Carling Cups. That’s nine so far but 10 would be even nicer.

“I never expected to have this kind of success when I moved from West Ham.

“I knew Chelsea was a bigger club and it was a huge step up but what has happened since was never on the horizon at the time.

“We have to thank the owner for what’s happened. We scraped into the Champions League the year before he arrived and his investment has taken the club to a different level.

“I’ve been very fortunate to play among some great squads and we’ve gone on to many great things.

“If we can win the European Cup this season it would be brilliant but it’s going to be a very difficult task against a fantastic Bayern Munich team.

“I watched them against Real Madrid in the semi and they were top drawer.

“There’s been a lot of talk in the Press about who is going to lift the trophy but, first, we have to win the final and no one here is getting ahead of themselves.

“It’s irrelevant who lifts the cup. I don’t care if all 15 or 20 in the squad have our hands on the trophy. It’s one of those things that becomes a sideshow.”

Anyone lifting the trophy has to be in the team first — and interim Blues boss Roberto Di Matteo insists that Champions League final places are still up for grabs.

He claims no one can take a trip to Munich for granted and is refusing to ease up on his stars, despite lifting another trophy at the end of a traumatic season.

And though Di Matteo steadfastly refuses to discuss his long-term employment prospects, he knows success in the Allianz Arena will be crucial to his hopes of landing the job permanently. He said: “I don’t know my Champions League team for the final and we’ll have five or six days to work on different situations in training.

“We’ve got suspensions to contend with and I’ll have to come up with some different options. It’s all about getting the balance right.

“We’ve had to change a lot of personnel in the back four because of injury and suspensions and everyone who has come in, from JT to Ryan Bertrand, has always performed to a high level.

“It’s all about confidence. When the players have that, they show their ability.

“We’ve had a difficult season but there is a lot of quality in this team — and adversity always seems to bring it out of these players.

“They seem to cope with all the problems and difficulties people throw at them.

“My first job when I was asked to take charge was to communicate with the players. There was no doubt about their ability but we’re all human and when things don’t go your way sometimes you have doubts.

“My first game at Birmingham was crucial because if we didn’t win that replay things could have gone completely the other way.

“But we got that first win to bring back a bit of belief and we’ve gone on from there. Every victory has cemented their confidence and we’ve rolled from one win to the next.”

Di Matteo has more good news as centre-back David Luiz is winning his battle to be fit for Munich, though England star Gary Cahill is set to miss out.

Both players are suffering from hamstring trouble.

But Brazilian Luiz expects to return to full training this week — and he hopes to play some part in Chelsea’s final Premier League game against Blackburn on Sunday.

Luiz said: “I think I will be back in full training this week and I will do everything I can to be fit for the final. I’d give my life to play. It is my dream.”