Former Chelsea defender Alex feels Andre Villas-Boas' downfall was his management of Frank Lampard.

Alex was frozen out by AVB before moving to PSG in January.

"I saw some comments of Lampard recently and I think he deserved more respect," he said.

"It is true that a player knows he will sometimes have to stay on the bench, especially after reaching a certain age. That's not a problem.

"But with Lampard's history at the club, where he has more than 10 years, he deserves a word or an explanation from the manager.

"Fundamentally, it was a question of respect for everything that he represents for Chelsea. I think it makes little sense to say that there was a hard core who did not want Andre to continue.

"If you look carefully, John Terry and Ashley Cole always played, Didier Drogba and even Fernando Torres had lots of opportunities.

"We, the players, often have a habit when things go wrong of blaming the coach. But that's not true. Sometimes things don't go well for the team due to little details, like a lack of luck, or poor form from some of us."