Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has criticised France boss Didier Deschamps after midfielder N’Golo Kante returned from international duty with an injury.
Kante, who has played in only four of Chelsea’s eight Premier League matches during an injury-hit start to the campaign, hurt his groin during the warm-up for France’s Euro 2020 qualifier against Iceland last Friday and was removed from the starting XI.
Deschamps opted to keep the 28-year-old with the French squad for the remainder of the international break, a decision that irked Lampard, who had recently engaged in a “light-hearted” back-and-forth with the France head coach over Olivier Giroud’s lack of game-time at the club.
“After the first game when he pulled out he then had a fitness test the day before the second game, it was clear that he couldn’t play,” Lampard said after ruling Kante out of Chelsea’s game against Newcastle.
“He then sat on the bench on the evening of the game, so that’s not communication, so it’s not such a laughing matter.”
“It’s more for Kante himself because he’s not an inexperienced player, he’s been around the block, he’s won World Cups, he’s been a fantastic player so I think that could have been handled better for sure.
“Our doctors were speaking and there were some times when things weren’t coming back to us as I’d expect them to come back. That’s what I mean about communication.
“I understand when players are on international duty that they’re their players as such, but it was quite clear he wasn’t fit to play so from our point of view we would have wanted him back to work on him.”
Lampard confirmed that Chelsea will also be without Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger for the game against Newcastle, but Mateo Kovacic and Ross Barkley are available.
Before the international break Chelsea recorded back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time under Lampard’s management to move to fifth in the table, just two points behind Manchester City.
