End of The Road for England’s Frank Lampard?
Frank Lampard recently suffered another setback as he suffered a reoccurrence of his hernia problems, which means that the Chelsea ace is to sit out a further two months on the sidelines. His absence has severly affected Chelsea’s performance
as now they are being defeated by mediocre teams. He also missed the England versus France friendly, in which if had he been present a very different result could have been witnessed.
Lampard’s only appeared once for England in an international friendly was against minnows Hungary. Since then he has missed out on the Euro qualifiers.
With the recent emergence of talented youngsters such as Jack Wilshere, and presence of established players like Steven Gerrard and Gareth Barry, the future of Frank Lampard for the Three Lions seems gloomy.
Frank Lampard was first spotted by Peter Taylor for the England setup, he included him in the England under 17s.He represented them from 1997 to 2000, during this time, he notched up an impressive 9 goals for them.
Frank Lampard appeared for the first time for England senior squad in 2000 in a 3-1 over Belgium. Frank Lampard remained on the fringes of the England squad for a couple of years. He was bypassed from the Euro 2000 and World cup 2002
squads. Frank was given more chances in the England setup during the Euro 2004 qualification campaign. His first goal came against Croatia in 2003.
Improved consistency in form for both club and country led to him being given his first chance in an international major tournament in the Euro 2004 finals held in Portugal. The tournament turned out to be an individual success; he notched
up an impressive 3 goals in 4 games.
With the retirement of veteran Paul Scholes, Frank Lampard became a mainstay in the midfield of England along with Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard.
Following the summer of 2004, England’s World Cup qualification campaign began. With Steven Gerrard sitting back at the centre of the park, Lampard got the license to go forward and attack. His late runs into the box led to him being at
the end of many passes, which were turned into goals. Frank seemed to have the Midas touch during the qualification campaign, becoming the driving force of England team.
Frank was the highest goals corer during this campaign helping England to the top of their qualification group. He was voted England player of the year both in 2004 and 2005.Frank appeared in his first World Cup in the summer of 2006 in
Germany. He suffered a dip in form and went goal less through the whole tournament.
Despite the disappointment and being at the end of much criticism, the new England manager Steve McLaren decided to keep him in England squad for qualification campaign of Euro 2008.Along with other stars of the England side, Lampard suffered
a poor form through this campaign and was unable to inspire England to reach the European championships.
Appointment of Fabio Capello in 2008 brought about a revival of fortunes for England. England cruised through the qualification campaign of World cup 2010 with ease. Frank Lampard once again showed brilliant form as he used to a few years
back.
Frank was deployed in a more defensive role, a role to which he adapted with comfort and seemed to enjoy. The England team went to South Africa with high hopes, and with the so-called “Golden Generation” of England players involved, it
seemed to be England’s best chance to win a major tournament for quite some time. But the English team failed to live up to high expectations they carried themselves with. England bowed out in shame after a humiliating defeat at the hands of Germany in the
last 16 round.
Since then Frank appeared only once for England. After a flying start with Chelsea he has had two cases of hernia problems, the latter leading up to the surgery that has kept him out on sidelines for the next two months. Frank would have
to fight his way back, to both club and international squads. Frank Lampard is 32-years-old now therefore moving towards his twilight years as a footballer. With Fabio Capello aiming to promote more youngsters into the squad, Frank maybe a has-been in the
England set up already.
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