Ever since Frank Lampard emerged to the international scene in 2003, there has been an on going debate on whether Frank Lampard and the Liverpool captain, Steven Gerrard, can play in the same midfield as each other. Initially, they were asked to play alongside each other in a four man midfield, however, this has proven unsuccessful and since then England managers have attempted to field both players in the same team by positioning them in slightly differently, while getting the most out of them.
Frank Lampard has played a crucial part in all of Chelsea’s latest success, recently surpassing his 100th Chelsea goal. I don’t think anyone could rightfully question Lampard’s ability. The 30-year-old midfielder loves dictating play from the centre of the park and with a great variety of passing in his locker; he is able to do this. Another key aspect in Lampard’s game is his vision. After receiving the ball, Lampard finds it very easy to pick out a pass either to his fellow midfielders, or forwards. But, the main reason why Frank Lampard has been successful in his career is because of his fantastic goal-return as a midfielder. Over the past four seasons, he has consistently picked up 19 goals or more, while covering his defensive duties and organising the midfield.
Steven Gerrard has a slightly different role in comparison to Frank Lampard at their respective clubs; Liverpool and Chelsea. Gerrard is the heartbeat of the Liverpool team and is known to be one of the best captains in English football. Commentators often refer to Gerrard’s “Hollywood” style of passing - Gerrard has the ability to pass forty to fifty yards up the pitch and accurately find his man in sensational style. Gerrard has all the right attributes of a box-to-box midfielder. His pace is threatening, on the ball he is fantastic and he covers his defensive duties well while having a similar sort of goal scoring record as Frank Lampard.
However, for some reason or other, these two talented football players have never been able to work together in the England midfield. This is thought to be because when playing for Chelsea and Liverpool, they have had the protection of slightly more defensive minded midfielders around them - giving Lampard and Gerrard the license and freedom to attack for Chelsea and Liverpool respectively. The England manager, Fabio Capello, continues to experiment these two players in slightly different positions, however, so far, he, like other recent England managers have been unable to find a suitable position for them both in the England midfield that enables both to perform to their very high standards.
What if Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard could be combined into one player? Science may not be there yet, but if Lampard and Gerrard learned to work together a little better, it would be the closest thing to having them both combined into one super player. The only question would be whether to call the new super player Frank Gerrard or Steve Lampard - Freve Gerrpard maybe?
Surely I’m not the only one who likes a little soccer what-if dreaming, right? If you could create a super player by combining traits of Frank Lampard and Steve Gerrard, what skills would you pick from each player? And, more importantly, what would you call the player? Feel free to leave your ideas below.
i am a chelsea fan i would take gerrard’s pace Lampard’s vision Gerrard’s leadership/skipper Gerrard’s tackles/defensive work Lampard’s experience[being older that stevo] Gerrard’s attitude[never say die] Lampard’s ability to orchestrate the field plus lately frankie has been scoring late goals so i would take that from him and gerrard’s strength of course. STEVRANK GERRPARD
p.s. Footballer of the year 2009 1. Lionel Messi-Barca 2. Steven Gerrard- LivyerPyul 3. Christiano Ronaldo- MADCHESTER DIVided
