Chelsea and the peculiar case of Frank Lampard
If Frank Lampard leaves Stamford Bridge tomorrow morning, I would not give two lights.
If a Chelsea fan had said that to you a few years ago, you would probably think they are either a) stupid, b) mad or c) one of those new fans that liked the look of Roman Abramovich’s money. However, that same comment in July 2007 would be met with a relative amount of indifference by many, by a few more general agreement.
Before I move onto the crux of my point, let’s set a few things straight and dispell any preconceptions that could potentially be made. I, on a personal level, feel that Frank Lampard can be a fine player for club and country on his day. He’s got a lot of attributes to his game when on form, he can finish, he can pass and he is able to drive a team onto victory through his own contribution, an asset critical to anyone who wants to play in a team assembled by Jose Mourinho. However, ask yourself, when was the last time you saw Frank Lampard lead from the front for Chelsea, or for England, on a persistent, sustained basis?
When Lampard joined Chelsea from West Ham for 11 million pounds in 2001, as one of Claudio Ranieri’s mega-money signings from that summer, many were concerned that the club had paid over the odds for a player who had plenty to learn in the game. Lampard did little to remove those concerns in the initial stages of his Chelsea career, and suddenly the fears that the midfielder would go the same way as the likes of Emerson Thome, Bernard Lambourne and infamously, Chris Sutton, were becoming realistic.
It took a while, but Lampard eventually settled into Ranieri’s team at Stamford Bridge and began to play to a higher standard as the weeks progressed. Come the time of the Russian revolution in West London and the ploughing of millions into the club on the part of Roman Abramovich, Lampard was a settled, established member of the Chelsea midfield, but the signings of Claude Makelele, Joe Cole and Juan Veron initially threatened to dislodge Lampard and leave him on the sidelines.
It was at this point where Lampard produced a season of immense quality from midfield, proving a rock of stability in a tumultuous period for the club in transition. As Veron, Cole and Makelele all struggled in their first season or flopped completely, Lampard remained the man to turn to, scoring 15 goals in 58 appearances and being a shining light in an otherwise frustrating season. Were it not for the brilliance of Theirry Henry and co during Arsenal’s unbeaten season, Lampard would have walked away with a plethora of awards from all-comers at the end of the season. This form was replicated for country during England’s run to the quarter finals of Euro 2004, with the midfielder again starring for his side, along with Wayne Rooney. Truly, Lampard had now joined the elite list of world footballers.
A new manager brought new challenges, but Lampard continued to excel himself, going four better than the season before as Jose Mourinho led the Blues to their first league title in half a century. It was John Terry who took the awards at the end of the campaign, but that could not diminish the contribution of Lampard, with Mourinho and Matthias Sammer going as far as to call the Romford man “the best player in the world.” At this point, plenty would have agreed with the sentiments of the two men. A minority said that this level of performance could not be sustained, but the theory was largely discredited, owing to the performances of the midfielder over the previous two seasons.
How right they ultimately proved to be though. Despite Lampard increasing his goal tally in both seasons since the first title victory in 2004/05, there just seems to be something missing from the equation. This is not the same Frank Lampard I saw in the final year of Ranieri’s reign and the beginning of Mourinho’s spell as manager. The stats suggest otherwise, but the vast number of Chelsea fans will tell you the same thing. Putting your finger quite on the root of the issue is the tough part, but if I tried to put it into words, I would say that the all- action style seen in that two-year period is missing now.
There no longer appears to be the demand for the ball, there’s no desire to earn the ball, to track back, to find the correct positions, nor is there the same laser-style passing or finishing as seen between 2003 and 2005. There may be more goals, but there are too many misses, or bad passes, or slack performances. The same applies for country, and although making Lampard the scapegoat for England’s generally inept showing in Germany last summer is somewhat unfair in relation to the rest of the squad, the difference between Euro 2004 and World Cup 2006 was marked.
Which leads on to the issue of whether Lampard should move on from the Bridge and make the move abroad, as has been heavily rumoured by all and sundry for a while now, in order to refresh a career in danger of stalling. For a brief period the name of newly promoted Juventus was mooted by the press, as the club recovered from the calipicoli scandal and looked to rebuild for Serie A under new manager Caludio Ranieri. The link was made between Ranieri and Lampard as it was the Italian who signed the latter for the Blues in the first place, but the suggestion held little weight.
Any player with serious ambitions shouldn’t be touching Serie A at the moment and Lampard would not be naive enough to move to Italy, such is the disastrous state of the league. The signings of Tiago Mendes, Hasan Salihamidzic, Manuele Blasi and Sergio Almiron, along with the established trio of Pavel Nedved, Mauro Camoranesi and Cristiano Zanetti among others means Juve have an already bloated midfield, signing Lampard would not make sense nor boost morale amongst the players already at Della Alpi.
Barcelona’s interest is more viable and prolonged however, even though currently mixed messages are coming out of Camp Nou over his potential signing. Joan Laporta is a well-known fan of Lampard, and in seasons gone by, has apparently tempted Chelsea with sky-high bids for the player, although the level of truth in these bids is somewhat debatable, but he would indeed welcome Lampard to the Camp Nou if the situation arose. However, in recent days it has been reported that the idea does not appeal to Frank Rijkaard and that he is finished bringing in new names for the summer.
On ground level, Ronaldinho has long spoke of his admiration for the player and in several interviews has said that he would enjoy playing alongside Lampard for the Catalan club, but that is merely his take on the player. As much as Ronaldinho may like a player, it is ultimately up to the top brass, namely Laporta and Rijkaard, to decide who joins and who leaves, therefore you tend to believe that in the long run, Barca’s pursuit of Lampard may be a false dawn.
There does not appear to be the level of interference from the board in deciding who signs for Barca (Ignoring Laporta’s presidential candidacy pledge) as has plagued Real Madrid’s numerous managers for years. As such, Rijkaard’s apparent disinterest in bringing Lampard in may mean that in the long run, there is no bid forthcoming from Los Cules. More importantly, the signings that have already been brought in over the summer may put pay to any chase for Lampard.
The liklihood is that Rijkaard will have to start with the big four of Henry, Messi, Eto’o and Ronaldinho at every possible turn, either as a front four or with two wingers. This would leave only two, three spaces left in midfield at most. Xavi isn’t going anywhere soon and Yaya Toure has not been bought for close to 7 million to be left on the bench. Leaving only one possible space in midfield, with Eidur Gudjonhsen, Deco and Thiago Motta all left to battle for it, even though questions are rife about the future of all three men. Assuming they do stay, and fight it out, a few people are going to be unhappy before too long.
Introducing Lampard to the frame will just complicate matters further. As such, it would not make sense at the moment for Barca to be buying any more players, certainly not with the top-heavy unit they have at the moment. Real Madrid have also been alleged to be sniffing around Lampard, but the fact that they have made no significant advances thus far this summer, along with the number of players already available to play in central midfield (Guti, Diarra, Emerson, Gago et al) would make that move also seem unreasonable.
So in essence this takes us back to where we were at the start. It can be reasonably assumed that Frank Lampard will stay at Chelsea, will continue to be a key part of Mourinho’s plans and all the rumours that have surrounded him for weeks held no weight at all. But then the question needs to be asked: Does Chelsea really need Frank Lampard?
Based on the evidence given, Lampard should not be leaving Chelsea as there is no need for any of the other big clubs around Europe to sign him or they are not in a position to do so. Taking that logic to one side for a momen though, let’s say that Real do weigh in with an offer so grand it would be impossible to refuse, ditto for Barca, or Juve, or any other club you wish to insert in here. How much would Chelsea miss him? The answer I came to when I considered the issue is actually not that much at all.
When you look at the squad assembled now by Mourinho at Chelsea, the one area that stands out is the talent at disposal in midfield. Michael Essien, Joe Cole, Michael Ballack, Jon Obi Mikel, Steve Sidwell and Lampard are all options to play in the centre now for Chelsea, with Claude Makelele and Lassana Diarra also stand-by options, even though they prefer to take up a deeper role.
Those first five are all players of a good to excellent standard and all five could do a job for Chelsea if Lampard did indeed leave. Essien is the standout of the five and would fit into any central midfield in the world at the moment, Joe Cole is not far behind, even though he may be preferred in a wide role by Mourinho. Ballack recieved much criticism last season for his lacklustre showings, but this season, much like Andriy Shevchenko, he could come good, there are no reasons for him not to any more. Mikel and Sidwell are still two candidates who have something to prove, but Mikel should become a good player if he can remove the hot-headedness from his game, while Sidwell needs to prove he is up to the standard expected at Chelsea, something I personally expect him to do with aplomb, if he is given the opportunity.
All things said, it’s a quintet which Chelsea fans can pin their hopes on. Lampard is also an automatic option within the squad, but if that is taken away during the summer, then the midfield would not be affected too perversely, the options are definately in place, with or without Lampard as another choice.
There is also the issue, perhaps even the fear that at the age of 29, Lampard may have peaked in terms of the football he plays. Perhaps those who criticise him are going by the yardstick of the 2003/04 and 04/05 seasons where he was one of, if not the best performer in the Premiership, therefore measuring up to that level once again is the impossible feat. However, to look at him last season, there was just something not quite right about Lampard’s game. He seemed off the boil far too often, there would be seldom contribution in a number of games and when the team really needed him, at times he was unable to produce the goods, the 2-0 defeat at Anfield in February particularly sticks out in the mind.
These are the games where the cream of the crop need to prove why they are so well regarded. Michael Essien did it last season, so did Didier Drogba, while you’re at it, add John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho and Petr Cech to that list as well. Not Lampard. Where he would have been leading from the front a few seasons ago, now he seems somewhat distant too often, not doing enough for the Chelsea cause. There are plenty of goals to his name, but there are plenty of lacklustre performances for club and country, too many to go unnoticed.
Many people will disagree and point to his goalscoring record in recent seasons which, admittedly is very impressive for a midfielder of any type and of any calibre, but there hasn’t been the genuine advancement in his game which many expected. The goals are there, but the drive, passion and energy are surprisingly absent in some occasions from Lampard. Fans who travel the country to watch him, fans who shell out 30 quid a week to watch him at Stamford Bridge should demand more from a man on a contract such as his, fans who follow the Three Lions should demand more desire in the red and white shirt. The basis was there in previous seasons for Lampard to become a player of consistent, world-class quality, but he isn’t living up to the promise as expected. The fans need more from Lampard and they should expect more, because we all know what he is capable of.
Tackling an issue like this brings about it’s own contradictions and I’m sure in some instances in this article my point appears convuluted and hypocritical. However, it’s just one of those things I hope Chelsea and England fans can relate to, that football fans can understand and realise where the frustrations comes from. I go back to the efforts of Lampard in this two golden seasons, when he truly proved that he was no longer the boy from West Ham with the over-the-top price-tag and little substance to his game. In those two seasons, he was the man for Chelsea, and everything was there to suggest he would continue to scale the heights along with fellow midfielders Ronaldinho, Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo. It can be argued that all three have advanced in their game since 2005 and are now three of, if not the top trio of midfielders in the world game.
Lampard has stagnated, the Romford boy needs to go out and prove his worth again and show us, the fans, why he should be the first name on the team-sheet for club and country. He’s climbed the proverbial mountain once, now he needs to ascend it again to show us why’s he the real deal in the modern game. Otherwise, if Barcelona come in with a 25 million bid and prise him away to join the Dream Team now being assembled in Catalonia, don’t expect me to shed any tears at his departure.
- Should Chelsea cash in on Lampard?
- Why is Lampard worried about his Chelsea contract?
- Lampard and Gerrard can no longer be automatic choices for England
- Interesting Striker Stats (World Cup 2006)
- Manchester United / Chelsea: Lampard and Ronaldo to Barcelona?
Discussion - 26 Responses
Add Your Comment
Comments are moderated (our comments policy).
What did Emerson Thome ever do wrong? He played well for the short time he was here and we sold him for a profit. You nasty man you!
Good article with lots of good points raised however I am still a big defender of Frank. In my opinion he only went off the boil a little last season and that was mainly to do with him being asked to play further to the left of the diamond rather than at the top of the three man midfield of previous seasons. In that role, Frank flourishes and is enabled to put in better performances as he doesn’t have to hold as rigid a position. For England I believe that he shouldn’t play alongside Gerrard as Stevie G’s positional indiscipline forces Lamps to hold more of a rigid position also. For England I’d either play Lamps with Hargreaves or Gerrard with Carrick as this would allow Lamps or Gerrard to both produce their best with players who compliment their game better
Good article. As Chelsea supporter I observe how Lampard has been transforming from play maker to glory hunter. Yes, he did score good number of goals last season, but countless opportunities were ruined that otherwise could have resulted in many more goals for the team. I hope that he will improve this season and become a great play maker and provider again. Otherwise, his selfishness may cost Chelsea dear if he is counted on and does not perform.
Sorry, Who is Lampard rumoured to be maybe signing with?
I hope he leaves, but if its a team from outside england I cant see him moving, but I cant see him moving to another Premier League club unless its West Ham and that wont happen
eugine,No offence but i think your article is way too long,try to write shorter readable articles.
Bout lampard,he is one of the most impressive players at the bridge.Mourinho style of play maybe the reason Lampard isn’t as hungry as when ranieri was coach.Plus with a midfield with guys like essien,ballack terry in defence,i think he just too the foot off the peddlae and relaxed a bit,and now enjoys his game more.
Why overwork yourself when you have a team that if all players work according to expected you are one of the best teams in Europe.
We’ve seen what he can do when the team fails,he up’s his game and rallies chelsea to victory,on those occasions when the forwards dont do their work.
Well in the two main seasons that you pointed out being before he had ever one a premiership medal, maybe that says it all. Then after winning it for a second time, this year he could have just expected to have won it, because in reality it didn’t seem like there would be any real competition. But now after just losing it he may try that little bit harder and win the league with Chelsea.
Frank Lampard is a symbol of all that is going wrong with English football - he’s a ‘big name’ player, but that’s it; a name. We get told that players like him are the bee’s knees and he tends to look good in highlights packages but it seems that whenever I watch him play he seems to be having a bad day.
I’ve actually seen him play live a couple of times against Middlesbrough and each time I am left completely underwhelmed by his performance; he gives the ball away too much and is obsessed with attempting long-range shots (99% of which fly in to the crowd).
Chelsea could’ve replaced him in a heart-beat if they wanted to, I think they just chose the easy option as he’s (along with John Terry) supposedly ‘Mr. Chelsea’ so I guess there would’ve been somewhat of an ‘uproar’.
He should be dropped to the bench from the England team too. I’m sick of people accommodating him just because he’s the world-beating Frank Lampard. Beckham/Lennon on the right, Downing/Barry on the left and then choose from J. Cole (he’s no left winger)/Carrick/Hargreaves/Gerrard/Lamps in the middle. Simple.
Maybe he’ll have a cracking season next year and prove everyone wrong, for England’s sake (seen as how he’s got a guaranteed place every game), I hope so.
Btw - long and good article. Keep it up Eugene.
And I agree - at best Lamps needs a bit of a break, at worst, his time is up.
Oh how short the memories can be. Is there no one who looks at the last three seasons and thinks he might be a little tired? That he raised the bar and now has to reach it himself, do we not feel gratitude for more than one game? I suggest some have the moral stamina equal to the nourishment found in a burger. Those who give so much deserve some loyalty and patience and it seems some of us have neither, I would back him to revive and astound and even if he didn’t I like the sound of having a rock as stable as him in any midfield, especially England’s.
Frank Lampard is the most overrated player in the history of football. The only reason he scores goals is because of the amount of shots he has in a game. His style is one of a process of elimination whereby he thinks that if he keeps hurtling the ball toward the goal he will - sooner or later, score a goal. This system works well for him at Chelsea where he has the right players around him to get away with this but clearly it does not work for England because a) you cannot get away with this in the international game and b)we just don’t have the players to accommodate this tedious style.
The evidence: when was the last time he had a good game for England? I don’t remember him ever having one but he probably has - a few years ago.
How he thinks he deserves 130k a week beggars belief. How anyone could pay this overrated boring idiot this money is also beyond belief. Only at Chelsea could this greedy bastard get away with it. I find it sickening.
I think the one thing we should learn from Sheva (or even before then for those wiser than me) is that goals should never be counted until they’re in the back of the net.
What I mean is, it’s one thing to say such and such could fit into Lampard’s position and produce the same goal/assist return that he does (even during a below average season) - but it’s not until someone has actually got the goals on the board that we can know for sure. Lampard, like Drogba, is a proven commodity - an invaluable possession in football - and we would all do well to remember that before we go giving his position to someone else.
That being said I quite expect Lampard to go, largely because I think he’s an utter utter tool and wants to be payed in gold bars. But whether Chelsea will give him those bars depends on if the alternatives make good on the opportunities to play in Lampard’s position that Mourinho will hopefully give them.
Really informative article mate and all the more interesting because its written with perspective. While I agree with most of what you say, that hes not been as good as in the seasons you mentioned and that he is not ireplacable anymore, I still think that he fits in at Chelsea, hes got a job to do and he does it well. Also I think that he doesnt need to do as much as before because of Essien
Selfishly, I’d like to see Lampard go to Juventus for this reason;
With no champions league football for a season he will get the rest we all agree he needs and go into the Euro tournament next season much fresher and ready to bring some silverware to this “golden generation” of England players.
I accept this probably won’t happen because at 29(ish) he won’t even want one season out of CL.
before the world cup in germany 2006, no-one would have doubted franks ability, and most would have picked him over steven gerrard at this time. i would agree stevie g is on top at the moment however. frank lampard has had around 4 years of being one of the best central midfielders in the world. he was the shining player of englands team in the 2004 world cup besides rooney. i believe these 3-4 years of playing top class football simply caught up with him over the last year.
I’m only about halfway through the article, which has been very good so far. Just one huge drawback. In your discussion of Barca there is no mention of Iniesta. This is criminal. He was in Barca’s top three performers last season, and has a FAR better chance of starting than does Thiago Motta.
Ok - now in general I can relate to your concerns, even if I do not share them. And whilst it pains me to defend Frank Lampard, I feel drawn by my integrity to do so. A fellow commentator has iterated that which I had intended first to say - that whilst it is extremely facile to under-estimate Lampard’s goalgetting talents, it is another thing to replace them, and there have been several occasions over the last two years when his goals have gotten Chelsea out of jail. I know what crap people will spout; his goals are all deflected, his shots-to-goals ratio is appalling - well, they are simply incorrect:
(http://football.guardian.co.uk/theknowledge/story/0,,1924393,00.html),
an opinion swayed by one of the many media myths propagated by the likes of the Sun, who, as everyone knows, like to hone in and pigeon-hole a few choice players every couple of seasons. The fact is that without Lampard you might find yourself drawing a lot of those games in which you have performed poorly and snatched a fairly late win.
We were asked when the last time had been that Lampard had led from the front for Chelsea: well, it doesn’t happen as often as it used to, perhaps, but that might have more to do with the style of football used, the Dider-Drogba-is-our-battering-ram-and-we’re-going-to-work-him-like-a-Makelele-”slave” punt of which Mourinho is very fond. Doesn’t exactly play to the Lampard strengths, does it? And, as for specific games, I would nominate the match against Everton last year in which late goals from Lampard and then Drogba stole the points. Lampard’s contribution in the second half of the game was immense, and his goal really rejuvenated belief in the Chelsea ranks.
All of this from a Spurs fan - I’d better go shoot myself.
You mentioned that last season Lampard for most of the time did not feature in the play. Others mentioned that all season selfish Lampard took potshots at the goal from long range.
Let’s try analyze this problem.
Can a player act selfish the entire season for 38+ games. (The manager would surely speak to the player to correct him.)
Frank’s attempts at solo goals were from a good distance away unlike the close range selfish efforts of strikers who choose to go for the goal by themselves instead of passing the ball which would have cirtainly resulted in a goal. Thus there was the all more reason for Jose Mourinho to tell Frank that he a put a stop to this solo glory efforts coz the game is about the team and not about him alone. But he kept at it the entire season which means he had the confidence of Jose, who thinks Lampard can deliver from such distances. As his previous seasons tally shows he did deliver the results for Chelsea so this taking potshots was in fact part of a planned strategy.
Last season Jose only had one in form striker in Drogba. Kolou could not be banked on to deliver the goods and Shevchenko was out of sorts. So why not ask Lampard to step up and try getting 15+ goals from him. If Jose plays Lampard in the striker’s role he would be constricted for space and it would be an unfamiliar position for him. He asked him not to do midfielder’s hard work on ground, instead act as third striker from a distance. It also avoided the risk of injury which had already plagued his squad. The other managers understood this strategy and towards the end of the season started cramping Lampard for room which resulted in his loosing possession frequently.
So friends contrary to your notion, Lampard did an exceptional job last season and that is the reason his wages have been up-scaled to 130K Pounds and there are Big clubs like Barcelona and Juventus after him.
Just remember under the management of Jose don’t judge a Lampard by checking if he played to his 2003-05 season’s displayed potential, instead judge him by checking how well did he essay the role entrusted to him by Jose. Hence add to Lampard’s quality list, Versatility and you will understand why Chelsea don’t want to even listen to any offers for Lampard unlike Robben where Chelsea is waiting for the right price.
You mentioned that last season Lampard for most of the time did not feature in the play. Others mentioned that all season selfish Lampard took potshots at the goal from long range.
Let’s try analyze this problem.
Can a player act selfish the entire season for 38+ games. (The manager would surely speak to the player to correct him.)
Frank’s attempts at solo goals were from a good distance away unlike the close range selfish efforts of strikers who choose to go for the goal by themselves instead of passing the ball which would have cirtainly resulted in a goal. Thus there was the all more reason for Jose Mourinho to tell Frank that he a put a stop to this solo glory efforts coz the game is about the team and not about him alone. But he kept at it the entire season which means he had the confidence of Jose, who thinks Lampard can deliver from such distances. As his previous seasons tally shows he did deliver the results for Chelsea so this taking potshots was in fact part of a planned strategy.
Last season Jose only had one in form striker in Drogba. Kolou could not be banked on to deliver the goods and Shevchenko was out of sorts. So why not ask Lampard to step up and try getting 15+ goals from him. If Jose plays Lampard in the striker’s role he would be constricted for space and it would be an unfamiliar position for him. He asked him not to do midfielder’s hard work on ground, instead act as third striker from a distance. It also avoided the risk of injury which had already plagued his squad. The other managers understood this strategy and towards the end of the season started cramping Lampard for room which resulted in his loosing possession frequently.
So friends contrary to your notion, Lampard did an exceptional job last season and that is the reason his wages have been up-scaled to 130K Pounds and there are Big clubs like Barcelona and Juventus after him.
Just remember under the management of Jose don’t judge a Lampard by checking if he played to his 2003-05 season’s displayed potential, instead judge him by checking how well did he essay the role entrusted to him by Jose. Hence add to Lampard’s quality list, Versatility and you will understand why Chelsea don’t want to even listen to any offers for Lampard unlike Robben where Chelsea is waiting for the right price.
Alwaysblue, there wasn’t a ‘2004 world cup’ so it seems in your comment you weren’t thinking straight, which makes sense since I doubt anyone other than a Chelsea supporter would rather have Lampard ahead of Gerrard, he may have been slightly better but he’s never been as passionate as Stevie G and even Sir Alex has said many times that he thinks he’s a world class player, even before the ‘2004 world cup’, so don’t overexaggerate things.
And Hugo, ‘We were asked when the last time had been that Lampard had led from the front for Chelsea: well, it doesn’t happen as often as it used to, perhaps, but that might have more to do with the style of football used, the Dider-Drogba-is-our-battering-ram-and-we’re-going-to-work-him-like-a-Makelele-”slave” punt of which Mourinho is very fond. Doesn’t exactly play to the Lampard strengths.’ that was when lampard played at his best, the first two years with Drogba, and since that system changed last season we seen lampard become less effective. It was perfect for him, hit the ball up to Drogba, Lampard picks up the loose balls and shoots.
And jeff thats not much of an excuse, people aren’t judging him on one game, there judging him on over 50 games, when he didn’t play as well as he did before, and plenty of players have had less rest than him.
I knew I’d forgotten someone, Iniesta was in my thought process, but I must have just lost him somewhere in the typing. That’s a given anyways, he’s a nifty enough player for Barca, of what I’ve seen.
Liverpool supporter here, so you can get in your shouts of bias etc before we start, but I have watched lampard a lot last couple of seasons and frankly he isn’t the complete player that everybody seems to claim he is.
Before we start in on the gerrard/lampard comparisions this isn’t about gerrard its about Lampards all round game.
The goal statistics are not going to be argued about, but it is in lampards overall contribution that we can find reason to critisise, his passing is not of the incisive defense splitting ball, his tackling is average and it is no wonder that most chelsea fans point to his goals as defense for his poor showing elsewhere
I agree that tiredness is going to contribute to his form and is probably a part solution, but in my opnion the problem is that frank has started to believe his own hype.
Instead of working harder to cement his place in the elite he seems to have rested on his laurels and bathed in the spot light glow.
this article is not the first from a chelsea fan I have seen critisising Frank, and I have to ask if fans and in most cases longlife fans are questioning his contribution then maybe jose needs to try something different.
Incidentally as a liverpool fan I hope you continue with him, I no longer fear him and feel his quality is not a threat anymore.
“Any player with serious ambitions shouldn’t be touching Serie A” Italian serie A is fine again now and if this were true why havn’t players like kaka left even after having huge offers thrown his way from about 10 different clubs (madrid being the main club offering a 60 million euro deal)
Many of you are way too hard on Frankie Lam. The guy was the best midfielder in the Premiership for two years, and was a key guy in the Blues back to back titles. Now, the guy has a year many players would dream of, and he’s being bashed.
True, Lamps struggled at times this year with his form, but his criticism is unfair because he was playing at such a high level beforehand.
The guy is overshadowed by the scouser fuck Stevie G from ‘Pool and that isn’t his problem. Frank has always been an attacking midfielder, and this year simply was put in a position where he could not make his plays as usual. The reversion to a 4-4-2 eliminated most of Chelsea’s wing play, casuing Lamps to have to look farther for help on the pitch. Any player would struggle with this change after having dominated the with another formation the previous two years.
I’m looking forward to him bouncing back this year and helping our boys compete for the title yet again.
Top class article, really well researched. I agree that Lampard doesn’t look hungry anymore, its a real shame that his fire has been replaced by complacency. I can’t remember which article it was but someone has already commented that Murinho comment that he was the best player in the game, in essence, ruined Lampard because it went right to his head. I am not by any means a fan of Chelsea or Lampard but a determined Lampard can only be good for England so I hope he turns it around
SURELY! WHAT DO U EXPECT FROM A PLAYER WHO DOES NOT HAVE TO FIGHT FOR HIS POSITION. HE’S AUTOMATIC CHOICE FOR BOTH CLUB AND COUNTRY AND HE KNOWS THAT. YOU MUST EARN POSITION IN A TEAM NOT GIFTED. I THINK MOURINHO AND MAC SHOUL MAKE HIM KNOW THAT
[…] · No Comments He even beat out Beckham! Chelsea FC and England footballer (soccer player) Frank Lampard is set to become the first footballer to have his own mobile TV channel in the […]