England
Has the Fat Lady sung for Frank?
After two unnervingly smooth performances by McClaren’s Men in White, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the footballing gloom and ennui which had enveloped the country would now be universally lifted. However, for the Lampard household, things may just have got a little bit bleaker.
By cruising to consecutive 3-0 victories with the sort of qualification assurance so reminiscent of the Eriksson era, the old certainties of the Gerrard/Lampard debate - i.e. that it would crop up again by the time of the next national fixture - may no longer be true. With Gerrard and the long-time-coming Gareth Barry forming a central partnership that finally looked of international class, Chelski’s most consistent performer in that slot could be set for a Russian winter.
Not that Frank, watching the game on Saturday, would have wanted or indeed expected anything other than a confident showing against the Israelis. The aberrant result that England picked up in Tel Aviv was not reflective of each team’s level of accomplishment, and with Wembley singing the team on revenge was duly exacted - and with some relish. However, after quadrupling Russia’s goals against tally in the second fixture of this International break even Lampard himself must be beginning to wonder where he fits in to McClaren’s new set-up.
Opting to go with a four man midfield, and partnering the attack-minded Gerrard with a more defensive operator is not rocket science, mind. Eriksson banged his head repeatedly against the problem of Lampard and/or Gerrard, and eventually worked out that the solution was Hargreaves. Despite Barry’s impressive displays, Hargreaves will certainly be pushing hard for inclusion against Estonia and Russia - but is Lampard worth any more than a spot in the squad, alongside David Bentley, Stuart Downing, and the other midfield back-up?
Superficially, Gerrard and Lamps, with 59 and 56 caps respectively, appear to be in a monkey knife fight for the one attacking central midfield position going - the experimentation with Gerrard out on the right, which kind of fudged the issue, thankfully seems to have been ended, now that SWP is showing some mettle and Becks, albeit injured currently, is back in the frame. With 13 goals, Lampard heads Liverpool’s captain by one, perhaps leading the passing observer to conclude that with marginally less caps and marginally more goals, the Chelsea star is the better bet.
Lampard must be beginning to wonder where he fits in to McClaren’s new set-up
However, with five of his 13 goals coming in friendlies, and without a competitive international strike to his name since October 2005, Lampard’s is surely a star on the wane. By contrast, Gerrard has scored only twice in friendlies, and his last five have come in either the World Cup or the current set of Euro qualifiers (a statistic which I’ll admit does include three against lowly Andorra).
This would be to judge the pair solely on their ability to find the net; but regular England-watchers will surely be able to note the difference in quality between Gerrard’s dynamic and at times ferocious ability to change a game, and Lampard’s more languid style of play. A good example of how Frank tends to fade in and out of a contest came in last month’s friendly against Germany, when, after scoring with a decent strike, his subsequent contributions amounted to shinning a left wing cross over the bar, and little else. While the pair at times contrive to both seem muted when playing together, Gerrard is unshackled with a Hargreaves or a Barry to watch his back - just as there is an Alonso or a Sissoko at Liverpool - barrelling forward with the vim and vigour we’re all accustomed to.
Of course, Lampard is a very good, very competent player. His ability to pick up goals at Chelsea is phenomenal, particularly in a positional sense, while he can strike a ball terrifically from range. Yet he rarely does this in an England shirt. Gerrard’s box’o'highlights would include his scorcher against Germany in 2001, as well as technically accomplished goals against Sweden and T&T at the last World Cup. In particular, it is his work rate that sets him apart though, with lung-bursting runs and whole-hearted tackling being de rigueur elements of his performance.
Against the Israelis in March, Gerrard’s pass carved out England’s best opening, only for Lampard to scuff his effort straight at Dudu Aoute. Later in the same game, the Chelsea man’s header wide could better have been described as a deflection. In the World Cup quarter-final against Portugal, Lampard was found unmarked in acres of space by a Gerrard corner, only to miscue his volley into the floor and over the bar. Unfair as highlighting such moments probably is, to my mind Frank Lampard is a good Premiership player but not world class; whereas Gerrard is undoubtedly one of the best players in the game currently.
Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but after the last two performances McClaren is left with this outline for his midfield: Left wing - Joe Cole, preferably, but Stuart Downing if need be; Right wing - SWP or Lennon, when fit, with Beckham as experienced option; Centre mid (holding) - Hargreaves gets the nod, but Barry good first reserve; Centre mid (attacking) - Gerrard every time, with Lampard for cover. Only in case of injury should such a system be altered. The debate is over.
Should Lampard be dispatched to the bench? Share your views by leaving a comment below.
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16 comments for “Has the Fat Lady sung for Frank?”
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One decent performance in the world cup and a big money move to Man U, and all of a sudden Hargreaves is the answer for England! Please, Barry outshone even Gerrard in those two matches, created 3 of the 6 goals scored and puts in the kind of performance he has been giving for years at club level. You can count the number of misplaced passes he made on one hand, tracked back when Gerrard got forward and offered a real sense of balance, not to mention that sweet left foot. Barry definitely deserves to start for England in the coming matches!!!
How can you leave Barry out after two outstanding performances? Hargreaves would not have been as good even if he was fit. Barry with Gerrard is the perfect combination. Why change?
Another posting deciding that Gerrard is god, and Lampard is the Devil.
Gerrard indeed puffs out his chest at every conceviable opportunity making him always appear to be running about playing the hero, but, no body ever seems to mention how many passes go astray, and everybody forgives little Stevie when he dives, (approx two times per game!). It seems that he is everybodys darling except with Chelsea supporters.
Gerrard has just had two mediocre games against mediocre teams but because we won both games and because he is God, no body dare criticise him.If the author of this peice has any bottle he will print the missed passes stats (not just the miles covered) for Gerrard for the two games,to show a true reflection.
Obviously I am a Chelsea supporter. I think Barry did exceptionally well and should keep his place.I think Hesky shut his critics up, including me, and he should be given the nod ahead of Crouch.Richards did well. Terry and Ferdinand had a decent plod. Owen was sharp. The two Coles flatter to deceive and Wright-Philips caused a few problems.
Robinson ?
Yes you are right in the Lampard v Gerrard debate and as we all know they don’t bring out the best in each other.
However, Hargreaves over Barry? Wise up! We all saw Hargreaves have a couple of very good games in the WC but has been injured since and so done nothing. As an out and out tackler he probably does have the edge on Barry but every other aspect of his play is weaker. Barry’s distribution was faultless for England - more than twice as many completed passes than anyone else in the team speaks for itself. He covered for that lazy arrse Ferdinand a few times then unleashed attack after attack with sniper-esque passing.
I watch him every week for Villa and he has been that good consistently for years, the difference at club level is his surging runs forward and that should be brought into his game for England.
Barry and Gerrard are simply the best option for England and if he played for one of ‘those’ clubs the media love he’d have been in there for years. Still, better late than never, if he can get past the football snobs.
How could you even consider dropping Barry after those two performances? Shocking! Hargreaves is a top class player but offers little going forwards. Barry is solid at the defensive side of the game but also has a touch of class going forwards. Add to that his corners and free-kicks and his eye for the killer pass and he’s a superb complement to Gerrard. 3 assists in 2 games, 2 near man of the match performances and 2 excellent team performances means he deserves his place in the side, whoever is on the bench. Same for Heskey.
We should keep the same team - the debate is over.
Drop Barry?
He is a better footballer than Hargreaves and gives us the ability to creat chances as well as keep the ball. Hargreaves is a good breaker up of the play but he gives away too mnay fouls and his passes are aimless and usually let us down.
Dear Alan,
Don’t ever bother applying for McClaren’s job!
Gerrard has not played a true attacking midfield role in the majority of his performances for england and liverpool, therefore alot of your analysis is irrelevant. However I conclude gerrard is a better attacking midfielder and is now showing this with freedom to roam at club and for country, thanks to Mascherano and Hargreaves. Lampard has a terrific goal scoring record for chelsea however this has been achieved at a club who were achieving more than Gerrards liverpool. I believe they are both world class, however Gerrard is better, lampard is worthy of a place in the England team too , however our management cannot see beyond a 442 formation, instead of playing weak attackers (Come on Owen and Heskey look great against Isreal and Russia, but will they cut it at the Euro’s? No chance.) I think they should utilise our strenghts:
If it were me at Euro 2008 4-5-1:
James
Neville Terry Richards ACole
Hargreaves
SWP Lampard Gerrard JCole
Rooney
Width and an attacking 3 of gerrard, lampard and rooney.. Terry and Rio don’t work together, too similar, give the boy richards a chance to shine.
Gerrard and Barry are the best pairing in the middle. Hargreaves is an exceptional DM but only need one when we play against teams with play maker behind the striker. There’s no point playing Hargreaves against Israel!!! Lampard is World class but if England want to play with high tempo to unsettle teams then Gerrard’s dynamism trumps Lampards slickness
Also whats with all this if it aint broke dont fix it shite, when was the last time russia won anything? Tabloids are written by complete idiots who change their opinions after each result. Wake up!
Gerrard is just back from injury, hes done far better than fat frank for england despite being played out of position. Prick.
Why does everyone always talk about Gerrard or Lampard,Hargreaves or Barry, Beckham or Wright- Phillips etc. etc. Picture the scene, it’s a hard fought, must win game at 0-0 and everyones exhausted. Gerrard has been playing for 75 mins making his “lung busting” runs but the opposition is in the ascendency. Hargreaves comes on to the pitchto replace Barry and suddenly the midfield has a bit more bite to it. Lampard comes on for Gerrard and the opposition can’t believe the quality of our substitutions. Lennon comes on for wright- phillips and terrorises their full back. Or Rooney comes on for heskey, Beckham for whoever. (I know this is more than 3 substitutions). The point is we play a squad game and the use of the substitutions makes the manager look like a genius or an idiot. Instead of focusing on the quality we have to bring on from the bench and being ecstatic we act like a place on the subs bench is the same as being dropped.
I just wnat to ask what happened to carrick in all this arguement. no one seems to have mentioned him,and i think he doesnt deserve to be left out and should have been given a chance in one of those games.the guy has some beautiful passes, and vision is unbelievable sometimes,so i dont get it,y doesnt anyone mention him,y doesnt he deserve to get a chance. he worked his ass of last year for united, and help them alot,he completed the missing link in the team.
hey guys!
stop debating which player is greater in their position or who should get the calls for the next match. it’s time to debate who should be the england manager! is mclaren good? just look at the middlesbrough he led. he’s a good guy. but he just isn’t good enough to be a football team manager. he couldn’t even shout out his voice when he speaks! who should be the one? Only a true champion manager should! what has he got? only a tiny little domestic knockout trophy did he won and the whole england put faith on this guy? pooo-leeezzz, wake up your mind would you? beating mickey mouse israel and russia 3 goals to nil doesn’t really excite me. england team with whoever player under any manager should produce these kind of result without excuse. you only jump up of your sofa when england starting beating big guns like germany, italy, france, argentina or brazil.
look barry is better than lamps, his goal ratio is amazing but he stops gerrard playing and barry is a better midfeilder, i am not even going to say barry is better than hargreeves because they are night and day barry can play hargreeves cant he can tackle but so can barry he is dicaplined (holds) but he can’t run the midfeild compaired to barry his passing is poor and somtimes hides barry wants it every time, keeps it 19 out of 20 and about 1/4 of the time either playes a great progresive pass or runs from deep to the left wing and bangs a great cross in, the next quistion is not if but where you play him, the answer is central mid because he runs the game (is the best player in more games than not, the only quistion left is is he better than gerrard well maybe not but who cares they complement each other they both play.
As for Gerrard’s misplaced passes, well I don’t have any stats for those, but I would guess it was because he was actually trying to make things happen. Wrong?