Frank Lampard – a Legend that will never EVER be forgotten.

Frank Lampard – Chelsea’s answer to Zinedine Zidane. That would’ve also made a great title, but I decided to stop at the original one…

Yes, I personally think that in the last 15 years only one man is a better midfielder than Frank Lampard in the whole world and that’s Zizou. Throw Giggs, Scholes, Gerrard, even Beckham, Xavi or Iniesta in my face – I will keep calm and tell you than IN MY OPINION Frankie is better than them all.

A brilliant box-to-box midfielder, who started his career in West Ham United. And thank God for that because back then their manager was Harry Redknapp. Love him or hate him, Harry is one of the best managers in the world. Sure, he may be managing the team I hate the second-most (qphaha) but he’s still one of the best out there.

In 1996, Harry passionately defended a teenager who people have barely heard of. His name – Frank Lampard. Many people believed that a lad named Scott Canham was a better player. However, so far in his career Frankie has scored (and by ‘so far’ I mean in January 25th, 2013) perhaps one goal or more for every appearance Scott Canham has ever made on the football pitch. And Harry was spot on back then. He said that ‘there will be no comparison of what Frank Lampard will achieve in football and what Scotty Canham will achieve in football…’ – and boy, was he right. One of the things he said later on in this interview: ‘Didn’t want to say this in front of him, but he will go RIGHT TO THE VERY TOP’ – hats off. 17 years after that interview, Frankie has become probably Chelsea’s biggest legend of all time. He won trophies, a huge amount of them, he’s been through great and bad times. But he’s won it all.
Sure, some haters will say ‘He didn’t win the UEFA Super Cup.’ – yeah, so what? So what if Atletico Madrid won it? So what if Barcelona have won it? Piss off with your pathetic Super Cup – it’s the Champions League that matters. And boy, was Frankie happy to finally get that trophy in his hands and proudly kiss it…

However, the question now is…is it time to move on?

Believe me when I tell you this – whenever I think of Frank Lampard leaving Chelsea, I feel like crying. Yes, I’m a grown up, a 20-year-old man, who feels like crying just because a football player may be leaving a football club. And I’m not embarrassed to say it.

Frank Lampard has been an icon, he’s been a symbol. There hardly is ANY football fan in the world in the last 7-8, even 10 years, who hasn’t heard of Frank Lampard. I remember when I was about 10 years I loved going to this school that was exactly a minute from where I lived. There was a small football pitch – no grass, of course, it was a stone surface with two goals. I’m not ashamed that I played by myself and I commentated out loud (what do you expect, I was a freaking kid!) whenever I scored a goal – ‘FRANK LAMPARD SCORES AGAIN!’ – believe it or not, back then I had a t-shirt with the number 8 on the back of it (It wasn’t even a football shirt, I swear) and I was like ‘Chelsea’s number 8 has scored a fantastic goal! Frank Lampard!’. Can you actually blame me for that? Frankie has always been a role model, even back then in 2003.

But enough with my childhood, let’s get to the point – has Frank Lampard’s time in Chelsea come to an end? Believe it or not – I suppose it has. Yes, I said it. It took me some courage to write it but I believe it is time for Frankie to move on. NOT NOW! But in the summer. And God bless him, I pray that he’ll score 8 more goals – penalties, free-kicks, I don’t care. I really hope that he breaks Bobby Tambling’s record of 202 goals for Chelsea. If he breaks that record (and I’m sure he will), that will be a fantastic ending to one of the best fairy tales, love stories, etc. in the world.

Why is it time to move on? Frankie is still useful? Yes, yes, I agree – this season it’s been proven that sometimes all that it’s needed is Frankie to be on the pitch and the team will win. However, sadly, good things always come to an end, and even with Frankie on the pitch the team sometimes struggle to even get a point. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not blaming Frankie for that. Hell no. But he’s part of the team and he also needs to be blamed. Of course, he’s almost 35 years old and (don’t throw that ‘Giggs and Scholes are 40 but still play’ garbage in my face!) he, naturally, has lost most of his abilities. Sure, his presence is vital but it’s time to make way for the Young Guard (I just made that up..). He will be missed, just like Didier is missed. But we have many players in the midfield, unlike the striker position, so Frankie’s ‘presence’ (I hate to say only Frankie) will be replaced somehow. Sooner or later players like Mata, Hazard, Oscar, even David Luiz (believe it or not I think he can become one of the best box-to-box midfielders in the world, he just needs discipline)  will become the icons of Chelsea. Mata’s ahead of them all but let’s just say the rest are catching up fast. Not to mention that Mikel has been in the CDM position for some time now and that even Oriol Romeu, Ramires or David Luiz himself will also become top class holding midfielders. That’s the Young Guard I’m talking about. Frankie will be proud, I promise you this. I hope (and I believe) that he will return to Chelsea to help them youngsters develop and become almost as good as him.

So yes – I believe that after the season ends Frankie will leave Chelsea for a few years to finish his career (*tears rushing into eyes*) somewhere else but mark my word – he will come back to help the team – not by playing, but by just being there.

Frank Lampard – a Legend that will never EVER be forgotten.

Thank you for reading.

@boboluiz – twitter.