Chelsea are on a high right now as English Champions. They’ve won the title but few friends on the way. The main reason for this is that the line between confidence and arrogance is pretty thin. Confidence increases with every bit of success – but so does arrogance.
Now Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard is happy to believe the hype to the point where he now believes beating Liverpool is just a formality. Lampard says: "We go to Anfield as champions and we believe in ourselves and know we can win at Anfield. The manager and some of the players have won things abroad but people like myself, John Terry and Eidur Gudjohnsen are not going to be happy with a second-rate performance at Anfield. We know that being champions here is the most important thing because you are the most consistent in the league. Now we’re in the semi-finals of the Champions League that’s the most important thing for us and we want to do well."
Bolton kept Chelsea at bay for 45 minutes on Saturday. They went ahead with a Lampard goal, but play should already have been stopped for a free-kick to Bolton. Bolton were chasing the game and a goal on the break then gave Chelsea a 2-0 cushion, and they picked up the title. Lampard was glad to get it over and done with: "This was the game we wanted to do it in and now we can really concentrate on going to Anfield with confidence before having the celebrations at home to Charlton next weekend."
So, does Lampard feel confident about the game at Anfield? "If going there as champions doesn’t fill you with confidence, then nothing will. So we’ll have to save our energy now, relax a bit and look forward to that game."