Lampard is Chelsea's Rolls-Royce

[Aesthetic Relic 301]

Telegraph

Frank Lampard is Chelsea's Rolls-Royce

There is an awful lot to admire about Frank Lampard’s game.

For a start, no other midfielder in the Premier League can regularly match his prolific scoring stats.

It’s a quiet season indeed when the Chelsea man doesn’t top 20 goals. Linked to this, the 30-year-old still boasts tremendous stamina, enabling him to cover an incredible amount of ground.

Add in his tactical understanding, highlighted recently with those exceptionally disciplined displays for England, and, clearly, this Rolls-Royce from Romford doesn’t want for attributes.

Something not often mentioned in relation to the player is a marvellous ability to move the ball on first time, to know exactly where it’s going before it even arrives and execute the pass with one swift swish of the boot.

At the Riverside, where Middlesbrough couldn’t get near Chelsea, Lampard was exhibiting this undervalued talent yet again.

If he wasn’t swapping positions and passes with the highly impressive Juliano Belletti and Florent Malouda, Chelsea’s No 8 was helping the ball round the corner into Nicolas Anelka’s feet or lofting a longer pass for the Frenchman to chase.

This latter option, however, didn’t always work, mainly because Anelka tended to react rather than anticipate, so giving defenders a chance to head off the threat.

With Didier Drogba it’s different, since the big Ivorian enjoys a much better understanding with his provider. Even before the ball has arrived at Lampard’s feet, Drogba will be on his bike, timing his run behind the centre-half, knowing that a raking, diagonal pass is heading his way. It’s a fantastic weapon, very difficult to counter, but one requiring from the architect a great deal of vision and skill. Aware of this, Lampard has been known to undertake special exercises to hone peripheral vision, the sort partly pioneered by Sir Clive Woodward.

Next time you see Lampard play, watch the number of times he glances around before receiving the ball, judging space and time, and gauging the position of team-mates. Often when he does get the ball his mind is made up, reducing the risk of being caught in possession.

In today’s congested midfields, where time is incredibly short, that’s one heck of an asset. It might not always catch the eye (it’s just one touch after all) but such economical precision is increasingly important in the modern game.

As a result, Lampard looks set for yet another terrific campaign, one that could easily end up, the way things are going, with his club grabbing glory at home and abroad.