In Defence Of Frank Lampard

Filed in archive Premiership 2006/7 on October 19, 2006

Is it just me or is Frank Lampard (Junior) coming in for some very unfair stick lately? I watched him closely during Chelsea's 1-0 win over Barcelona last night and it dawned on me that he doesn't get the credit he deserves. The fella goes box to box for 90 minutes; last night he was always there to help Ashley Cole (who really is overrated) deal with Leo Messi as well as getting forward to support the attack.

Seems people only notice Lampard when he's banging in goals (or getting lucky with deflections). I remember the same thing happening to Manchester United's Paul Scholes when he played for England. But both men have great technique, nice quick feet, and play smart passes to keep the ball moving.

But they get judged like strikers in some ways, praised if they're scoring, lambasted if they're not. Fair enough if we're talking Michael Owen, who more or less literally does nothing outside of the penalty area, but when a midfielder's doing plenty of other work it's not really fair is it? Yes Frank had a lot of shots off target in the World Cup (including one rather important penalty...) but outside of that he was no worse than the other England players. Same thing against Macedonia and Croatia.

So hows about we all give the guy a break and put the Frankophobia on hiatus for a while?

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