Frank Lampard and Roman Abramovich have been the centre of attention for pundits and newspapers the last few months due to Roman Abramovich deciding (up to now) to not extend Lampard’s contract, is it the right decision though?
Lampard has played a pivotal part to Chelsea’s success over the last few years, but does he now? Lampard is Chelsea’s third top scorer this season with 14 goals overall, but is that enough of a reason to keep him? Lampard has also managed to get 0 assists in the Premier League, something that the Chelsea legend is not used to. Now let’s get in depth…
Frank Lampard plays in the pivot, a position he does not excel in due to his lack of defensive ability, his lack of pace and his inability to move up and down the pitch due to old age. Lampard’s lack of defensive ability has been a huge concern to Chelsea this season as the position he plays in is significant to Chelsea’s success, but Lampard has just not been good enough. Player’s breeze past him without effort and Lampard’s inability to time a tackle and position himself in an area of danger has let players get through on goal and puts pressure on the defense, especially when the other team are on a counter attack. Here is one of Lampard’s weaknesses via WhoScored
Now as you can see, tackling is a weakness in Lampard’s game, the role which he plays is a role which you must tackle but he is not strong in that part of his game. Another reason not to keep Lampard anymore is, without the pivot position, we cannot fit him anywhere else except for an attacking role, a role in which we have Mata, Hazard and Oscar to fill, is he good enough to kick them out? We must think for the future so would it be a good idea to let him play in the centre-attacking midfield role, even if he did, that would mean we only have Ramires and Mikel to fill out that pivot role after Romeu is out for the rest of the season, but do just them two have the ability to play the rest of the many games we have this season? I’m not too sure.
Now there are good things about giving Lampard a new contract, he is still strong in many areas of his game, especially his shooting, finishing and attacking position; he could also provide morale in the dressing room as well as experience. If Lampard does stay, he could teach the likes of Hazard, Mata, Oscar, De Bruyne, Piazon etc. how to improve their abilities in attacking and also teach them how to improve their shooting, set piece ability and passing ability also. Below are a few of Lampard’s strengths via Who Scored
Now as you can see, Lampard is still strong in many aspects but are any of those good enough for the pivot role? Lampard is also a big character in Chelsea and is classed as a legend by every Chelsea fan across the world, his big character will be something that the dressing room will miss if he leaves, like Didier Drogba, would there be anyone else who could fill his boots? Lampard has also scored many important goals for Chelsea, one that pops up in my mind is his two goals vs Everton at Goodison Park, those two goals helped us beat Everton at a ground they hadn’t been beaten at for many months and is now proving to be a crucial extra three points with Arsenal only three points behind us in the League with eight games to go. One question to ask yourself is, will Chelsea every find another player like Lampard? I don’t think so…
Those are a few pros and cons of extending Lampard’s contract, I’ll let you decide if he should leave or not, personally, I would like it if he could stay, but for the team, I think it would be better if he left after surpassing Bobby Tambling’s 202 goals tally and leave on a high, like Didier Drogba…
Super Frank is a legend witout doubt, bt i fink his time is up in CFC. Wen eva he plays nw we ve mor probs in d midfieled. pls i am a big fan of Frank bt i wn’t alow dat 2 blindfold lov i ve 4 my blove CFC, cos i am nt supportin it cos of anybody rit nw. Let him go nw wen d ovaition is stil high lik felow legend DIDI b4 he leave wit disgrace.
i advocated earlier that josh McEachran should not be allowed to go on loan! Instead he must train and play with lampard for at least one season to polish his skills and techniques so that even if lampard have to go, he will just have lampard-like qualities! I still think Josh can play that role
lampard could stay and play as super sub in matches against moderate teams….the double pivot can be strengthened by the duos of luiz-mikel ramires-mikel or ramires- luiz…..playing lamps as attacking mid fielder means sacrificing the growth of oscar……Lampard could play as attacking mid field super sub only
Sell Lampard.
Its his last so you can’t sell him. Its let him leave on a free or another year!
If only we can get Modric to pair either Mikel or Ramirez in that double pivot!.It’s high time we start thinking of getting Isco.
I agree with you Isco in getting him but not as a solution to are CM but to allow us full rotation of the three behind the striker. I think Marco Verratti (I watched more matches with him in than pjanic) is a definite way forward and solution to the double pivot.
I marvel at some fans, whats our obession with names,how can we be advocating for the purchase of modric when we have 2 excellent lads who can play in the deep laying midfield role, kvb n josh will do excellently well,they both have good vision,excellent passing range,good on d dribble,kbv can hit lovely shots plus we also have a nathan chaloboah who has been awesome.As for lamps,its time to bow out,he is too expensive to have on d bench with ffp looming large above, we need to keep phasing out these lads for d transition to work out,if we stall at any phase it will be detrimental to our development.
Has anybody ever thought of maybe not using the pivot and use something that suits our team? !!!! Ridiculous talks of buying and selling players is going on when a simpler solution is to change the formation. .
Marco Verratti is the solution a combination of a deep lying playmaker with excellent passing, young, suit our style and has very good tackling.
Lamp is good, is time we let him go or play him sparingly
i have alwayz point it out that lampard should go …. what else can chelsea get off him … he is the one ripping chelsea off of hundreds of thousands of pounds every week with dismal performances … forget about those goals … could have been scored by other players if lamps was not fielded…. he is a legend in chelsea no doubt but we should not be clouded by sentiments and rubbish the future of young and promising chelsea young boys… such as Piazon, Josh Michecheran , islam feruz kevin de bruyne etc… we need to look ahead of lamps and prepare for the future … he could be given a year depending on his performance … dressing room words of encouragement under the conditions of pay cut, reduced number of games i.e been used sparingly like Giggs or Scholes
Are you guys crazy ? You guys are behaving as if your dad is paying Lampard’s wages. Roman has got plenty and it’s not a big deal if he retains Lampard. A club is always judged my it’s morale strength which Lampard is oozing with and blending with his experience in tough matches. He still delivers today. Losing Lampard will affect the morale of the team as of Drogba and Legends should be honoured rather than do away with. Something we need to learn from United.