Football Player Profile: Frank Lampard labeled the “best in the world” by Jose Mourinho
Frank Lampard is a box-to-box midfielder, who is vice captain for both club and country. Wearing number 8, he is said to be of the “golden generation”. After moving from West Ham to Chelsea, he quickly established himself with his consistency and hard work and became irreplaceable for the club. Lampard is the highest goal scoring midfielder in Premier League history with 129 league goals and he's 2nd in the Premier League's all-time assists table with 156 assists. Unfortunately, he has been unable to recreate his club success for country.
The media likes to sling demeaning nicknames, and Frank Lampard has not been spared. He’s been called “Fat Frank” among other things and it is stated as a fact by rival fans that “all his goals are deflections.” The ‘Frankophobes’ would be disappointed to know that according to research conducted by the Guardian only 8% of his goals are deflections. That’s a tad less than “all his goals”, don’t you think? Penalties are another topic Lampard is continuously called upon, having missed a penalty in the 2006 World Cup, but the fact that he scored against the same opposition at Euro 2004 in Lisbon is conveniently forgotten.
Domestically, Lampard has gone to set and break many records since his West Ham days. He is one of English football’s most consistent performers and his consistency has paid off. Ever present in the Chelsea first team, he has a record for 164 consecutive Premier League appearances between 2001-2005. As mentioned earlier, he is the highest goal scoring midfielder in the Premier League. His efforts were crucial for the back-to-back (2004/2005 and 2005/2006) Premier League titles and the domestic cup double in 2007. In 2005, Lampard was voted PFA Fan’s Player of the Year, FWA Footballer of the Year; also, he came second in both the 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year and the prestigious Ballon d’Or.
After signing a new contract in 2008, Frank Lampard became the highest paid footballer in the English Premier League. The following year, in 2009, he scored the winning goal of the FA Cup final and was rewarded by being named the Premier League Player of the Decade by official statistics. Lampard, grieving the loss of his mother a week earlier, showed incredible strength when he decided to play in the second leg of Chelsea's Champions League semi-final against Liverpool, which Chelsea went on to win because of Lampard’s emotional penalty in added time, which he took calmly and confidently. With an average of 20 goals and completing over 1400 successful passes and 10 or more assists every season, Lampard is the complete midfielder.
In the 2009/2010 season, Lampard was at it again, scoring 27 goals; his best yet. His extraordinary resistance to injury, missing only 2 games, and ability to not earn even one booking in the entire campaign, prove how essential he was to Chelsea clinching their third Premier League title and FA Cup. Chelsea’s first double. Lampard showed nerves of steel when he had to take a penalty thrice against his old club, the first two being disqualified by Mike Dean because of encroaching players, scoring all three times. Lampard’s consistency has ensured his name being put down in history; he is Chelsea’s third highest goal scorer of all time. Ray Wilkins was full of praise for Lampard, “Consistency is the name of the game and there is no one better than Frank. To score 27 goals from midfield, and to do it regularly over five or six seasons, is unbelievable. When you factor that in with his assists and all-round play, there cannot be many more effective players anywhere in the world.”
Internationally, Lampard has been capped 80 times by England since making his debut in 1999, and has scored 20 goals for his country. Voted England player of the year consecutively in 2004 and 2005, Lampard’s performance was commendable in Euro 2004 and again in England’s 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign, where he was the highest goal scorer with 5 goals. He played in the World Cup too, unfortunately missing the penalty in the semi-final against Portugal. He has also been crucial for England qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, scoring 4 goals. Despite his apparent inability to play alongside Steven Gerrard, he was in Capello’s starting 11.
Despite England’s disappointing 4-1 loss to Germany in the World Cup, Lampard was one of the few players who did not disappoint. He scored the important equalizer in the first half, which was harshly disallowed by Jorge Larrionda, even though the chip was clearly over the line. Pundits have argued that the outcome of the match could have been different if the goal had been allowed. Following this incident, referee Jorge Larrionda and his assistants were sacked and FIFA President, Sepp Blatter issued an apology to the FA and is now considering the introduction of video technology to help referees make better decisions. The loss is a great disappointment to Lampard, who had hoped England would win the World Cup, but the next EPL kicks off soon, in a couple of months and he will have something to look forward to.
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