Thursday 2 February 2017 18:43, UK
Frank Lampard has announced his retirement from football. There should be no debating his status as one of the game’s great midfielders, writes Adam Bate.
When conversation turns to the greatest Premier League midfielders, they will tell you all about Steven Gerrard's goals. But Frank Lampard scored 57 more of them. They will tell you that Paul Scholes was the assist maestro. But Frank Lampard got 47 more of them too.
If it seems churlish to put his career in the context of his great rivals, well, that was always the way. The comfort for Lampard is that when future generations come to assess the numbers, history will treat him well. He may even wonder why there was ever a debate.
Chelsea great Frank Lampard has announced his retirement from professional football.
In the flesh, there was always something a bit more prosaic about the boy born in Romford. He did have craft and vision. He did deliver in big games. But they were not his main virtues. The sheer weight of goals redefined what could be expected from a midfielder.
With 29 England goals, he also managed to eclipse Bryan Robson and David Platt to become one of England's top 10 goalscorers of all time. Some record. Not that Lampard did his best work on paper. He was both a great goalscorer and a scorer of great goals.
There was the chip with his right foot against Barcelona and the chest down and half volley with his left foot against Bayern Munich. The wedge with his not-so-weak foot at Hull and the countless occasions on which defences would regret not closing him down 30 yards out.
Chelsea supporters will cherish the memory of three Premier League titles. Lampard was the team's top scorer in the first two triumphs and scored 22 goals in the third. Perhaps most of all, fans will recall his role in captaining the team to Champions League glory in 2012.
"The largest part of my heart belongs to Chelsea, a club which has given me so many great memories," said Lampard upon announcing his retirement. "I will never forget the opportunity they gave me and the success that we managed to achieve together."
Chelsea provided the platform but Lampard seized it. That was not inevitable. This was a young player who had to endure now laughable talk of nepotism when given a chance at West Ham - one fan comparing him unfavourably to fellow youth-teamer Scott Canham.
He proved the doubters wrong and justified that £11m price tag that Chelsea paid for him 10 times over. Speaking to Claudio Ranieri in 2015, the coach who took Lampard to Stamford Bridge was in no doubt who deserved the credit for his exponential improvement.
"It was fantastic because when you say something to Frank, he will remember," Ranieri told Sky Sports. "The manager speaks with everybody but only the champion remembers in that moment what the coach said. It was easy to work with him. Too easy."
This was a man who made the best of his talent. Not the quickest, through hard work, and dedication, he nevertheless became arguably the game's most physically resilient footballer. In his first six years at Chelsea, he averaged over 60 games a season for club and country.
After more than a 1,000 professional games in a journey that took him from east London to the east coast of America, Lampard's playing career is over. But both the numbers and the memories will ensure it is career that is never likely to be forgotten.
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