David Mankellow

Frank Lampard

I’ll not win any fans by writing this article but I have had to write it. What does Frank Lampard have to do to win over the public? Critics recognise that he’s consistently been a very good player but the average non-Chelsea fan supporter seems to not only not rate him but dislike him personally.

Who, at club level has can boast a record like his in the world? A player that has scored 20+ goals from midfield for the last 6 years and even before that he was consistently scoring. He’s scored 191 goals in total in his career, 151 of them for Chelsea in 469 games. Steven Gerrard has 129 goals in 522 games for Liverpool. Paul Scholes has 148 goals in 636 games for United. I am not saying Lampard is better than Gerrard, that is a different argument entirely, additionally i’m not saying Lampard is better that Scholes in his pomp but that record surely commands more respect than he gets?

I have read a lot of forum posts and website comments since the 7-1 victory on Saturday and it would seem the consensus is the fact that he’s never really “done it” on the international stage. I ask you, who has? Maradona, Van Basten, Pele, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Villa, Torres etc etc. There is a small group that it can be said has “done it” on the international stage. Can it be said that Messi or Christiano Ronaldo have “done it”? Again, I’m not at all saying that Lampard is as good as either of those players, but this is to make a point. All three of the players have regularly and consistently been performing well in the Champions League and let’s look at the international stats:

Again, I am not saying that Lampard is more or as valuable as Messi or Ronaldo. These guys are superb but it’s just a point. Also, Messi’s Argentina play against pub teams for a lot of their qualifying games remember. Both Ronaldo and Messi play in forward roles too, either as a second striker or in a 3 pronged attack. Now, Lampard is coming to the end of his international career whilst Messi and Ronaldo are yet to reach their peak, so their records will be better come the end of their careers but quickly think about crucial international matches and moments…. Who has “done it”? Very few players. But that does not mean that they’re bad players and it certainly doesn’t mean fans around their country should hate them for it!

Now, let’s look at the England team. Who’s “done it” there? I’d be lying if I were to say Lampard has consistently been good for England. A lot of the games i’ve seen him play in he’s been average at best and he’s still notched 21 goals. Now I hear the real desperate Lampard-haters, palms sweaty, screaming “He takes penalties, he takes penalties!”. Well if there was a better penalty taker don’t you think Capello, McLaren & Eriksson would have had them take the pens?

So let’s look at his public profile. He’s not publicly a money-grabbing, spoiled brat of a footballer who goes around shagging everyone, spitting at photographers and punching people in bars. He seems to be quiet, loyal and humble given his background isn’t a normal one, having a footballer for a father.

So why do people dislike him?

I think I have a couple of reasons for the hatred toward Frank Lampard. Firstly, he’s a Chelsea player – fair point. I think i’d hate the Chelsea players too if I didn’t support them, no matter how they come across. This, however is a weak reason to boo an ENGLAND player in the build up to a World Cup. Then there’s the real reason: I think he’s inadvertently being blamed for the inability to quite get the balance in the midfield right over the last 5 or 6 years. He’s being blamed for Gerrard not being utilised properly. I agree with both of them statements to an extent. I think if Gerrard or Lampard weren’t on the scene then the balance of the midfield would be simple. Instead we’ve always tried to accommodate them both when it’s not possible. It’s never really worked. If I had the choice for England I’d have Gerrard in there over Lampard. Records aside, I think his overall game is better. The fact is that all of the recent England managers have tried to accommodate them and it doesn’t work. So Lampard is hated and booed because we’ve had weak England managers? Silly isn’t it.

Thoughts?