Ashley Cole was spotted giving advice to the Chelsea backline ahead of the Blues' clash against Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final. The Blues have struggled to keep the ball out of their own net recently, conceding seven goals in their previous five games.
With Ben Chilwell unavailable after he was shown a red-card in the first-leg, Frank Lampard opted for a back-five of Marc Cucurella, Wesley Fofana, Thiago Silva, Trevoh Chaloah and Reece James. In the pre-match warm up, Cole was seen giving the defenders a passionate pep talk and he appeared to be focusing on the Spaniard.
The former Chelsea left-back joined the coaching staff at Cobham training ground following Lampard's appointment as caretaker boss. With the west Londoners struggling at the back, Lampard will be hoping that Cole can give the side a welcomed boost.
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With the Blues chasing a two-goal deficit against Real Madrid, large sections of the fanbase where expecting to see a far more attack-minded side. Speaking to BT Sport, Lampard explained why he decided to operate a back-five.
"Well, I think when I look at us at the moment, firstly you have to respect the opponent, you have to respect the level of the game and I also have to pick players that I feel are in good shape," said the interim Chelsea boss. "It’s up to us how that looks and how we use that offensively and defensively, how we can join in with pace and obviously the wing-backs in the team, shaping up like we did last week, was a part of the game I thought we didn’t use enough last week in the game.
"When we’re gonna use our system we must have possession of the ball, we must use our wing-backs high up the pitch and then you must join in from midfield to get into the box. I actually think we have the legs and energy in there and also defensively the capacity to deal with one of the most important parts of the pitch with the level of player they have in there."
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