Frank Lampard

[Phil Driver 503]

Yes and the waiter picking him for all the big games at the end of the season showed he had worked out who our complete midfielder was ,no sarcasm needed.

Anyone who played with that cart horse Mikel was doomed to struggle as at Man City .

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

Yes and the waiter picking him for all the big games at the end of the season showed he had worked out who our complete midfielder was ,no sarcasm needed.

Anyone who played with that cart horse Mikel was doomed to struggle as at Man City .

Yet funnily enough it was when Mikel replaced Lampard against Man Utd that we suddenly managed to control the game and almost win it (but doing a remarkable job of scoring two to equalize against them). A big reason that he was played a lot is simply because of the ridiculous small squad we have. But it was Mata, Hazard, Cech, Azpi and Luiz who were are big game players this season, the ones that were consistent throughout, we still struggled in a lot of games (Benfica being a perfect example but those players helped us all through them.

[Phil Driver 503]

No mate a big reason was that Mikel was found out by the waiter and dropped ,small squad or not ,why was he dropped ,because he is useless.

[nono 791]

Great player and a club legend but he should not be starting anymore against teams like City, Barcelona etc. Midfield gets run over.

[Phil Driver 503]

I dont think the special one will be agreeing with you ,but we shall see .

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

No mate a big reason was that Mikel was found out by the waiter and dropped ,small squad or not ,why was he dropped ,because he is useless.

That does not alter the fact that Lampard is not the ''complete' midfielder that you sing about. He is an aging midfield who has lost a lot of his athleticism but can still pop up with a goal every and then. Good for as an impact squad player but it would be suicidal to make him one of the main cornerstones of the team

[Phil Driver 503]

The fact that Lampard can still score all those goals from a deeper role if anything reinforces the fact he is still the complete midfielder inc.those two special efforts in the Benfica game .

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

The fact that Lampard can still score all those goals from a deeper role if anything reinforces the fact he is still the complete midfielder inc.those two special efforts in the Benfica game .

More the fact that we have to accommodate him in the formation, he hardly does the job of a pivot DM because he is always acting as if he is in a 4-3-3 that is set up to allow him to run into the box ever time we go forward. We still can't control a game for shit a lot of the time an we really need a Modric type player to take his place and downplay his role to that of a squad player.

[Phil Driver 503]

He could play the pivot with his eyes closed and does but why do you want to take away the goals? They are the most valuable commodity in football and Jose like me will appreciate this . Do you think Mikel plays the pivot well?

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

He could play the pivot with his eyes closed and does but why do you want to take away the goals? They are the most valuable commodity in football and Jose like me will appreciate this . Do you think Mikel plays the pivot well?

Yes goals are nice, but if your playing in the pivot then you have more important task to take care off, I mean for god sakes the likes of Newcastle were piking him off, even in the game against Villa he was struggling to compose himself before Villa were down to 10 men. He either accepts a much reduced role or reinvents himself as a midfielder who will sacrifice goals for the ability to play as a deep-lying play maker.

[Magic Lamps 11,653]

Yes goals are nice, but if your playing in the pivot then you have more important task to take care off, I mean for god sakes the likes of Newcastle were piking him off, even in the game against Villa he was struggling to compose himself before Villa were down to 10 men. He either accepts a much reduced role or reinvents himself as a midfielder who will sacrifice goals for the ability to play as a deep-lying play maker.

Or Daniele "one man pivot" de Rossi joins and Lampard can do what he does best. Lamps is still one of the best midfielders around and one should let him play his game. He might struggle in the pivot at times, but he was in full control in the last game vs Utd and vs Benfica.

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

Or Daniele "one man pivot" de Rossi joins and Lampard can do what he does best. Lamps is still one of the best midfielders around and one should let him play his game. He might struggle in the pivot at times, but he was in full control in the last game vs Utd and vs Benfica.

We struggled against Benfica, apart from two shots that were brilliantly saved and smacked at the crossbar, Lampard (apart from some last ditched defending) really could not get a foothold in the game (grant it Luiz could not too, but that proves the idea that we lack midfielders who can control the tempo of the game, and in my opinion a 4-2-3-1 requires at least two players who can do that).

[LDN Blue 7,903]

He either accepts a much reduced role or reinvents himself as a midfielder who will sacrifice goals for the ability to play as a deep-lying play maker.

You then have to ask, what more does he offer after goals?..

[CHOULO19 24,332]

You then have to ask, what more does he offer after goals?..

In the past 2 seasons? Very little, sadly, apart from some good long-ball passing ability.

[Phil Driver 503]

Lampard was superb against Benfica ,all your boys who you say carried us through the season were awful ,namely Luiz,Mata,Oscar,Ramires and add to that Torres, Azpilecueta was awful as well ,the one who showed legs after a long season ,was Lampard .

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

Lampard was superb against Benfica ,all your boys who you say carried us through the season were awful ,namely Luiz,Mata,Oscar,Ramires and add to that Torres, Azpilecueta was awful as well ,the one who showed legs after a long season ,was Lampard .

How was Lampard brilliant against Benfica? Apart from the two shots what else did he do of substance? Hell Torres was one of the few players shrugging of the Benfica players.

[Phil Driver 503]

How was Luiz,Mata and Rammy, all were poor ,Lampard was amongst our better performers on the night and his two shots were the classiest efforts of the night .

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

How was Luiz,Mata and Rammy, all were poor ,Lampard was amongst our better performers on the night and his two shots were the classiest efforts of the night .

But was he actually helping us control the game? Of course not

That's the key problem in discussing what Lampard's role in the squad should be. Scoring goals is good, but as a midfielder you have to do more, not being able to help in the midfield when pressure is on is problem if you want to use them in big games.