I've just read a beautifully written article by Jmikemac on his blog [Another Football Blog] that mimics almost exactly how I feel about Lampard. A few interesting paragraphs: A LESSON FRANK LAMPARD SHOULD HAVE LEARNT FROM BATMAN ( link to full article here) "...Didier Drogba knew to keep his Champions League winning penalty as the last kick of his Chelsea career, knockout games aside he was on the way down as a player. Gianfranco Zola, although tempted to stay at post-Abramovich Chelsea, was probably very aware of his pushing-40. Arsene Wenger was treated like the village retard for selling Thierry Henry & Patrick Vieira, but neither reached the same heights again. My question is; when we were all watching The Dark Knight, what other film were Frank Lampard and the Chelsea board members watching? Before I get accused of being a hater, or anti-Lampard or anything else, the man is unarguably a Chelsea great, and in my opinion, one of English football. But every week I wish a little bit more that Chelsea or Frank had made the same tough call that Batman did, and had him go out on a high. Unlike most Chelsea fans, I didn’t want to drown Andre Villas-Boas in holy water for committing the sin of dropping Lampard every now and then. It was extreme, but I saw the rationale. The team had been reliant on Frank’s goals for years, and that was a major obstacle in creating a new way to play. Though that whole chapter was something of a disaster, Frank was definitely the Regina George of that school corridor. A spokesman for an unhappy contingent of senior players that was a bit too happy to talk. Though his performances picked up that year, it was the next season that really worried me. The goals still flowed, but nearly everything else bothered me a bit. His overall play suffered in search of his goal record, and whenever I hinted that perhaps, slightly, maybe, possibly, a little tiny, minuscule part of me would have preferred Lampard to move on at the end of his contract last summer, I was treated like Judas and Nick Griffin’s love-child by other Chelsea fans. The latter wasn’t helped by the over the top campaign by the Britain’s sporting media to get their golden boy a new deal. Frank got some important goals, and I am delighted that he became Chelsea’s all-time leading goalscorer. But that was surely the perfect point to bow out? I think we all knew a big drop-off in performance was coming, and we are slap bang in the midst of it right now. He hasn’t been helped by a change in system. Playing as part of the two deeper midfielders requires more positional and defensive nous than the Lampard of old required, and this seems to be an issue. Aside from that, Mourinho seems to be wanting our team to play pretty quick, counter-attacking football. Without trying to make Lampard sound painfully basic, this just doesn’t suit him, and he often slows momentum. I found myself last weekend watching Chelsea vs. Newcastle, followed by Arsenal vs. Liverpool. While I’m not trying to start a “Lampard or ********?” debate, because it will bore me to tears. I was left shaking my head for 90 minutes at the disparity in performance between our own Frank, and Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta. Now I can’t believe I’m doing this, but I’m actually going to use stats to remind you all of what I saw last week. Now, you tell me which of these graphs looks better? I’m not going to be shocking any of you in saying that the second is Arteta’s game, while the first is Frank’s. Without getting too technical; blue and green things are good. Red, orange and black? Not so much. Arteta was everywhere last weekend, mopping up things in defence and controlling the tempo of the game for Arsenal. He provided a fantastic pass down the flank which led to Arsenal’s opener. It’s these professional, disciplined displays punctuated by a few potentially game-changing moments which I hope for from our deeper midfielders. This is of course not reflective of an entire season, or a player’s qualities. What it did scream out to me though is that Lampard, rather than dictating and deciding games like we’re all so used to, is instead existing on the peripherals of them. This is leaving a few fans, me included, to rue Lampard’s decision to reject retirement in Los Angeles. It’s not all Frank’s fault, he isn’t going to volunteer for the bench when picked. His age too, though often over-emphasised, is probably impeding his performances to a degree. It’s just a bit of a disappointing way for such a great career to end. I have immense respect for Frank Lampard, I just wish he was more of a Batman fan."
