LAMPARD: Ranieri reveals it could have been Carrick!.

Claudio Ranieri has spent time this week at Cobham as a guest of Carlo Ancelotti to look around the training ground and to watch training as a whole. Ranieri took time to speak to the Official Chelsea Website and has talked about Frank Lampard and has a startling revelation.

He said:

I noticed that for Frank it was very easy for him to arrive in the box and score a goal. I liked both him and Michael Carrick because they played together at West Ham but we didn't have the money to buy both.

I chose Frank because in my opinion the players who arrive in the box without the ball and score a goal are very difficult to mark, very difficult to see when they arrive, and Frank has a big, big brain for football.

When you say something to him, when you say look Frank, you have to do, this, this and this, he understands immediately and this is important for a manager.

The first time I spoke to him I said look, I love the way you arrive in attack but I am an Italian manager and I want to improve you in defence, and he was fantastic. But I didn't think he could score 20 goals every season!. I thought maybe 10 or 12 but 20 no, that is a striker.'

Oh my god!. Just imagine that, no Frank Lampard but Michael Carrick instead!. If you think back we were all wondering at the time who would be the natural successor to Gus Poyet after his goal scoring exploits at the club. Carrick is a very very different player to Frank Lampard so we should be thanking Ranieri for the making a decision that has turned out to be one of Chelsea's best ever signings in our history.

KTBFFH.