Frank Lampard

[The only place to be 11,313]

Not being honest with yourself again.

Being perfectly honest with myself there and I think you're in no fucking position to tell me otherwise considering.

[ChelseasMessiah 304]

Being perfectly honest with myself there and I think you're in no fucking position to tell me otherwise considering.

When push comes to shove that still means fuck all over the assumption you made of me being the only one who wants Lampard out of the starting 11. The worst blind is the one who doesn't want to see.

[The only place to be 11,313]

When push comes to shove that still means fuck all over the assumption you made of me being the only one who wants Lampard out of the starting 11. The worst blind is the one who doesn't want to see.

It's not an assumption. I don't know any Chelsea supporter who sees him the way you do.

But then I don't know many who start slagging off our players on the internet 20 minutes into the second half.

[bushman 2,043]

Frank is not a holding midfielder, yet Jose plays him alongside of Ramires. Frank gets most of his passes wrong. I see gapping passageways when receiving attacks & Frank is still on. Has Frank been scoring as last year ? No, he has not.

Mata was the one who opened defenses, but he is not playing. Jose´s project is the reason, I assume.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

I want to remember the Frank Lampard of 2004-10, but I'm afraid that it will be tarnished with the Frank Lampard of 2011-13/14.

I was watching the highlights of the 7-0 over Stoke in 2010, and I had almost forgotten how good he was! Jose really needs to do him, and the team, a favor and stop playing him in the pivot.

[Blue Armour 4,436]

I want to remember the Frank Lampard of 2004-10, but I'm afraid that it will be tarnished with the Frank Lampard of 2011-13/14.

I was watching the highlights of the 7-0 over Stoke in 2010, and I had almost forgotten how good he was! Jose really needs to do him, and the team, a favor and stop playing him in the pivot.

Couldn't resist:

Most of the goals through Drogba's sheer athleticism...was the best option for dealing with PL defenses.

[zolayes 14,489]

When push comes to shove that still means fuck all over the assumption you made of me being the only one who wants Lampard out of the starting 11. The worst blind is the one who doesn't want to see.

if you and choulou werent so Mikel obsessed you might get more credit ...FFS change the record ..I had much more time before Choulou started his one man crusade

and now you are his disciple

[ChelseasMessiah 304]

if you and choulou werent so Mikel obsessed you might get more credit ...FFS change the record ..I had much more time before Choulou started his one man crusade

and now you are his disciple

I'm no one's disciple, I just call a spade a spade.

I'm far from Mikel obsessed, if Mourinho doesn't want him here, he could be sold as early as January for all I care. But there's no denying he's been great in his last 5 games and yet Lampard just gets bumped into the starting 11 despite playing the statue role to perfection.

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

He clearly does not have the capacity to start regularly for us. Mou knows this. The problem is Mikel or Essien are neither. Also MvG injury forces Mou to play Lamps even more. Recalling Josh or buying a DLP would not necessarily solve the problem immediately as they would need time to adjust, so playng Lamps simply remains the lesser evil.

[ChelseasMessiah 304]

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."

[zolayes 14,489]

More messiah ,,,,

no more He is on ignore now ..The first person Ive ever had to do that with

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

Actually, I just watched The Dark Night. The most important quote is: "Batman is the hero Gotham deserves, but not the hero it needs right now". But Lampard is still needed, because there are no better alternatives. Keeping Lamps always was Mou's plan A.

To leave in the moment of glory is one way, but not the only one. Lamps like Giggs, Zanetti or Maldini has pledged his career to Chelsea, he has always said he wanted to be here until Chelsea does not want him any more. No matter how bad the times are, he would always be there. And when chelsea fans start to hate him ("We will haunt him, since he can take it"), it is their problem not his. To leave after triumph is maybe the more glorious way and creates a better short time memory but to stay as long as possible is more honest.

And returning to that Batman metaphor. aFter The DArk Knight, Batman returned to save Gotham one last time even though his powers were already waning. Just as Batman, Lamps will deliver when needed the most, even though it looks unlikely these days or in other words "it always gets worse before it gets better" (Michael Caine as Alfred in TDK)

[bababoom 4,478]

A bit over the top with the Batman analogies.

[The only place to be 11,313]

He clearly does not have the capacity to start regularly for us. Mou knows this. The problem is Mikel or Essien are neither. Also MvG injury forces Mou to play Lamps even more. Recalling Josh or buying a DLP would not necessarily solve the problem immediately as they would need time to adjust, so playng Lamps simply remains the lesser evil.

And this is pretty much it.

People saying that he's tarnishing his legacy are so far out of sync with what Chelsea supporters actually think about Lamps that it's almost laughable.

Mikel and Ramires can work in certain games, but for the majority of games we need someone with Lamps skill set. What we really need though is someone new.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

I'm one of Lampard's biggest fans. I saw his 1st goal, I saw his 100th goal, and I've celebrated every single time he's scored a goal for us like England had just won the World Cup.

But to see him playing as he is right now, is pretty damned painful.