Liability Lampard

If England do fail to beat Slovenia on Wednesday afternoon in Port Elizabeth then perhaps the only possible positive to take will be the imminent international retirement of Frank Lampard. The Chelsea midfielder has been at the heart of the debate over club form and country form year after year since he took over from Paul Scholes in the England midfield. For many, Lampard is World Class and should always be one of the first names on the team sheet. For others, and I include myself, Lampard is amongst the most overrated players to ever earn so many caps.

Last Friday’s game saw the former West Ham player pick up his 80th cap for his nation. In that time, Lampard has scored 20 goals, 9 coming from the penalty spot. He has only ever scored twice in a major international tournament and has largely been anonymous in the first two games of England’s 2010 World Cup campaign. Now from the start, it should be made clear that I am not blaming England’s hapless performances solely on Lampard, but I do think he carries more blame then most.

I have always been of the opinion that Lampard is a good player but never a World Class player. Didier Drogba and Michael Essien are, and they allow Lampard to do, frankly, whatever he wants when he plays for Chelsea. I mean, rack your brains. When did Lampard last make a tackle? Or hit a stirring 30-yard pass? Or get rough and ready with an opposition midfielder the way Paul Scholes used to? The only images we ever see during a game of Lampard is of him, gormlessly sticking his tongue out and looking, essentially, petrified of what the press boys in the stands are saying about him being found out for the average player he is. When in the last 5 years would you have bet your mortgage on Lampard firing England to success the way Gascoigne and Beckham once did? You see, if your going to make the bold claims that Lampard is World Class then you need to make these comparisons. The fundamental difference between the big, actual world-class midfielders, and Frank, is that they have bottle. I said it in a blog after Chelsea’s elimination from the Champions League when Lampard faced two world class midfielders in Cambiasso (who didn’t even get picked for Argentina) and Sneijder; Lampard got found out. The trouble for the 64million watching right now is, he is getting found out by the likes of Landon Donavon and Portsmouth’s Yebda.

Isn’t the truth simple; Lampard is rubbish at international level? There is not one team in the top 10 teams who would replace any of their central midfielders for him. He hasn’t consistently performed for England in 6 years. He is the reason that Steven Gerrard cannot play in his more favored position. We often hear the argument that world class sides, and I mean truly world class sides, have to leave out key players and play less glamorous players so that they play as a team and not individuals. It is why Molito cannot get a game for Argentina despite being the best striker in European club football this season. It is why Fabregas cannot get a game for Spain yet Xavi Alonso, despite being in his thirties is preferred. It is why Danni Alves sits on the bench for Brazil. So why can’t England drop Lampard to play Joe Cole on the left and Gerrard through the middle off Rooney? Surely that makes more sense?

You see the nation is divided so one can only imagine what the dressing room must be like. There is only a small minority of fans who want Heskey and Lampard, and they base their opinion on a qualifying campaign that saw England take on Kazakhstan and the likes. World Cups bring different pressures. The concensus amongst those that see the pint glass as half full is that Heskey has been England’s shining light in a way that Japan’s Honda has been for them. This is the most ridiculous argument I have ever heard. Heskey has don’t nothing World Class really has he? He bundles his way around the pitch but there is no real class or precision to him? Its more luck then legendary. Take your rose tinted glasses off for a moment and ask yourself whether opposition defenders really are scared of big bad Emile? His step over and cross in the Algeria game summed him up. Lots of heart but zero talent. Pro-Heskians are reducing England to nothing more than a long ball, boring, skill and talent deprieved formation. I hoped for a little more if I am honest.

And the most frustrating part is that England have the players there to unlock these teams and change our fortunes. Joe Cole is without doubt a skillful player who would do well against teams like Algeria and Slovenia. Whatsmore, Cole has energy and passion in abundance. Peter Crouch came into the World Cup the 3rd most internationally in-form striker in the competition. Then again, should we really be surprised that he has only featured for a combined total of 16 minutes when England's second top goalscorer over the last 5 seasons (Darren Bent) is watching from his Gateshead apartment? Crouch and Cole could prove to be the unlikely heroes for England that Geoff Hurst and Peter Beardsley have been for the Three Lions in the past.

England need to change desperately. You can love him or hate him but one of the reasons Glen Hoddle was the best England manager in a long while, was because he was not afraid to drop the big names. David Beckham and Teddy Sheringham will testify to that. Will Fabio be brave enough to do the same? Form would suggest he is. He took on John Terry, the untouchable man himself. Will he now follow suit with a fellow Kings Road menace and do away with lack lustre Frank Lampard. It really is difficult to see what England would lack if Lampard was dropped isn’t it? He has offered barely anything in the last five years and if he is only on the pitch to take a penalty for England, I would ask many of you to question whether or not Frank, under pressure, would deliver?

And yet despite all this much-deserved negativity, you sense Capello will come good. It is why he is in the elite group of managers he is in. The England players will be meeting with the management team in Rustenburg tonight to try and save England’s World Cup hopes for another 4 years. Let’s just hope Fabio listens, learns and loses liability Lampard.


Gavin Callaghan