Lampard moving into background but spare us the glee

by Mike Martin   @thefootietweet

Frank Lampard is 33 years old.  That is the context in which all discussions of his future rôle in the Chelsea and England teams ought to take place.

There is no shame in a player in his 34th year no longer having the explosive energy and stamina required in being a modern box-to-box midfielder; similarly, nobody possessed of their senses would criticise Ryan Giggs for spending much of his time in central midfield in the final part of his career, rather than marauding up and down the left wing at Old Trafford.

That younger, quicker players are overtaking Lampard in the England side is a cause for celebration.  Renewal is a vital element in any international team’s fortunes and if England are producing top young midfielders – and in Jack Wilshere, Ross Barkley, Tom Cleverley and Josh McEachran, there can be little doubt that they are – that is no bad thing.

Yet there is a sense that many England fans are more excited about an opportunity to mock a player some see as a mediocrity who has bluffed his way through a career carried by superior teammates.  Let us employ some candour: this is piffle.  The notion that Lampard has been ‘carried’ at Chelsea by such luminaries as Mikel, Deco, Tiago, Ramires, Michael Ballack and Yossi Benayoun offends common sense.  The reverse is true.

Much of the controversy surrounding the player has concerned his England career, during which he has earned 88 caps (and counting), scoring 22 goals.  Some have always begrudged his failure to gel with Steven Gerrard, with whom he formed a talented but tactically dysfunctional midfield partnership under Sven Göran Eriksson and Steve McClaren.

Lampard has been an easy target for some years.  He is a lot of things many fans don’t like: rich (which England player isn’t?), a Tory (fair enough) and a Chelsea player.  With Wembley often filled with fans of rival London clubs, he could be forgiven for feeling short of friends on international duty.

Yet Lampard is a consummate professional who has been a key part of one of Europe’s best club sides for a decade.  He was easily the best midfielder at Euro 2004, whatever UEFA might say about Theo Zagorakis, absurdly named Golden Ball winner; he scored the winning goal in the 2009 FA Cup Final and is the eight top scorer and the top scoring midfielder in Premier League history with 140 goals.  So far.

Lampard is not Paul Scholes, who retired from international football at a ridiculously early age peeved at being very properly judged England’s third best central midfielder by Eriksson.  If he did retire, the very same snipers who absurdly call an extraordinary athlete who holds the Premier League record of 164 consecutive appearances ‘Fat Frank’ would accuse him of bottling it, being an unpatriotic waster.  Players do not take – and score – penalties in European Cup semi final second legs during extra time the day after burying their mother because they lack bottle.

At club level, there is the brilliant teenager McEachran to take over, just as Romelu Lukaku and Daniel Sturridge will take the place of Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka.  There need be no panic at Lampard’s quiet and dignified transfer from leading man to experienced support player.  But there ought not be joy either.