Lampard in Perspective

Des Kelly, writing in the Daily Mail on Saturday 4th February, makes this appraisal of Frank Lampard:

“No player in the English game can have made more of their basic talents than the Chelsea and England midfield player; no individual can have shown greater determination to improve their game, their fitness, leadership skills and image.

As a consequence, Lampard has made a personal journey from being a figure ridiculed by West Ham fans and accused of being in the side only because his father was a coach, to one of the most effective midfield players in the world.”

It is difficult to quibble with a single word of Kelly’s astute assessment of Lampard’s exemplary professionalism, for which he deserves the utmost credit and admiration. But the word that stands out above all the others is “effective”, because it epitomises Lampard and it illustrates how Lampard, in turn, epitomises Chelsea. He is a supremely effective player in an exceedingly effective team. What he is not, however, is a flair player, an exciting player, a truly creative player, a genius. He is not a Ronaldinho, a Zidane or a Bergkamp. And whatever the vote said, he is clearly not the second best player in the world.

The really interesting question is, can he get any better? That, of course, depends upon what you mean by ‘better’. He will become more experienced and this will make him better at what he does well – you could say ‘more efficient’ because, to use a tennis analogy, Frank Lampard is more Lendl than McEnroe.