Frank Lampard knocked older players' noses out of joint at Chelsea and Thomas Tuchel has rounded them up, says Ferdinand

FRANK LAMPARD knocked Chelsea's older players' noses out of joint but Thomas Tuchel has resolved the situation according to Rio Ferdinand.

The pundit has praised new boss Tuchel for successfully blending youth and experience at Stamford Bridge.

Speaking on his Vibe with Five YouTube channel, Ferdinand said: "I think bringing experience back into the team and giving them more responsibility has been a big difference to Frank’s. 

"Frank definitely went with the younger players and I think that knocked a few of the older players’ noses out of joint and they may have reacted negatively towards that. 

"That created a problem. But these players have come back in – Tuchel has rounded up the experienced players and told them 'you’re here, you’re my mainstay and the younger players you’re going to be a part of that as well.'"

Lampard was sacked in January after a poor run of form but his replacement Tuchel has flourished.

The German has guided the Blues into the quarter-finals of the Champions League, the last-four of the FA Cup and up to fourth in the Premier League.

Tuchel has steered the side to a 14-match unbeaten run – the best start by a Chelsea manager.

He has also guided them to seven successive clean sheets with Chelsea's defence behind their recent resurgence.

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And he has put his faith in experienced players such as Antonio Rudiger and Marcos Alonso after falling out of favour under Lampard.

Rudiger denied he was responsible for Lampard's dismissal after a reported bust-up.

But the defender has featured regularly under Tuchel and the new boss appears to have ironed out any friction in the squad under Lampard.

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