Lampard excited by new team

Frank Lampard: Believes the young players have changed the atmosphere at Chelsea this season

Frank Lampard believes there will be a new look to Chelsea this season and is excited by the new arrivals.

The European champions have already added young midfield talent to the squad in the shape of Eden Hazard and Marko Marin, with Brazil international Oscar expected to join the Blues soon.

Lampard acknowledges that Roberto Di Matteo's side may be sacrificing the benefits of being a settled unit but hopes the club will gain in terms of excitement and quality competition for places.

"Last year we proved to be a great team and a great unit in the second half of the season with what we achieved," Lampard told the club's official tour website.

"This year maybe we are slightly different because we have more new young players coming in.

"So there might not be the settled togetherness that we had on the pitch with that side because we had been together a long time.

"But there is an excitement about our team as well and that's probably the main difference.

Impress

"Everyone is trying to impress, and you never lose that in pre-season, there's not one manager I've met yet who will close the door on any player.

"We are all playing for our season at this stage trying to show Robbie that we are fit and ready regardless of last year.

"We have to perform at a high level to stay in the team because of the quality of the squad we have."

Lampard was speaking from Chelsea's tour of North America where they have already beaten Seattle Sounders 4-2 and drawn 1-1 with Paris St Germain.

"The games are very good for us," he added. "The Seattle game was a great first game for us.

"We are still fighting to get our fitness for the season coming up so it was a good competitive game for us and the Paris St Germain game was a step up in terms of opposition and again was a test.

"We're enjoying it and we want to get to a stage where by the time we are leaving the States we are in a state to think about starting our season."

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