Why Frank Lampard should leave Chelsea

Lampard has been at Chelsea since July 2001

Despite scoring the winner in Monday’s clash against Manchester City, Frank Lampard may find himself on his way out of London in January. Amid rumours of transfers and dressing room unrest, there is reason to believe Andre Villas-Boas would be happy to see him leave in the transfer window.

Lampard is clearly frustrated at being left on the bench and has been linked with moves to Real Madrid, Manchester United and the MLS.

He and the likes of John Terry, for instance – who has been the laughing stock of English football for too long – may be phased out of the current Chelsea squad as Andre Villas-Boas looks to freshen up Chelsea’s squad.

The Mourinho Factor

Since his departure in 2007, Chelsea have never fully recovered from the hangover of Jose Mourinho. Chelsea fans continue to wax lyrical about ‘The Special One’ – indeed they should – after all, he was the most successful manager in the club’s history. But the spine of that team – including Lampard – all still ply their trade at Stamford Bridge – Terry, Drogba, Cech etc. Of course, they are still good players, but they are starting to look like they are living on past glories.

All of these men are approaching the twilight of their careers and are not the same players they were in the title winning sides of 2005, 2006 and 2010.  But paramount to this, they are all Mourinho’s men.

Winning the dressing room over has been the biggest challenge to Chelsea managers since Mourinho left; perhaps the rumours surrounding AVB’s requests for players to celebrate with the bench has something to do with this. This is something Avram Grant, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Carlo Ancelotti can all relate to.

The new Generation

Andre Villas-Boas has proven at Porto that he is a very capable manager, but perhaps has not gained the greatest respect from the British public yet for his time in the Premier League. He will not want player power undermining his future in London.

It is with this that Villas-Boas has looked to a new generation to fill the gap – Daniel Sturridge, Oriol Romeu, David Luiz – with Raul Meireles even playing a Lampard-esque role on Monday night.

Slowly but surely, Villas-Boas is imprinting his own style on the Chelsea squad.

The manager has already shown a will to get these new players in, and must be admired for the team’s recent results against Manchester City, Valencia and Newcastle.

The recent comments from Gary Neville perhaps could not have come at a better time for Villas-Boas; the manager’s reaction to the Sky pundit’s comments on team spirit seemed to have created a bit of a siege mentality at Stamford Bridge on Monday night.

When your back is against the wall – perhaps as AVB’s was – it can help to have someone criticise you in this way. Bringing players and supporters together against the opposition and criticism that you face – it certainly seemed to work against Manchester City.

With the likely January exits of Nicolas Anelka and Alex, it is clear AVB is happy to cull some of the senior players in his squad.

Where Next for Lampard?

Perhaps now is the time for Frank Lampard to consider the remainder of his career.

He has been one of the finest midfielders of his generation and it would be a shame to see him see out the rest of his time sitting on the Stamford Bridge bench – he is better than that.

A move to Madrid or MLS is most likely, and maybe Frank deserves his time in the sun. If he does leave however, it would be with a heavy heart. 

His celebration with Chelsea fans on Monday shows how much the club means to him and, indeed, how much he has meant to the club.

Evan Bartlett 14/12/11

This article can also be seen on www.the4thofficial.co.uk - http://the4thofficial.co.uk/2011/12/14/why-frank-lampard-should-leave-chelsea/ 

Chelsea 2-1 Manchester City

                                               Lampard scoring winning penalty (83)

At a rainy Stamford Bridge, goals from Raul Meireles and a late Frank Lampard penalty sealed a 2-1 win for the hosts against a 10-man Manchester City. The result ending the Premiership leaders’ unbeaten run in spite of Mario Balotelli’s second-minute opener.

In a somewhat turbulent week for the Chelsea manager, it’s fair to say that Andre Villas-Boas would have been looking forward to letting football do the talking again. However, the game could not have got off to a worse start for the home side. Some smart work from Aguero; feeding a ball through to Balotelli (2), finding Ivanovic on the wrong side, the Italian forward rounding Petr Cech and finishing into the empty net and celebrating in his trademark nonchalant way.

From there, City looked to sit back and allow Chelsea possession, looking for chances to counter attack. On 14 minutes, City broke through Silva with the Spaniard going down under pressure from Jose Bosingwa in the box. City’s claims for a penalty were (correctly) turned away from Referee Mark Clattenburg.

From this point, Chelsea kept the majority of the ball but failed to create too many chances and City still looking by far the more threatening team going forward. This was until Daniel Sturridge found room behind Gael Clichy, beating the Frenchman easily and cutting back for Raul Meireles (34) to score on the volley after a good, late run into the box.

Sturridge was impressive throughout, and it must be questioned how long Villas-Boas will continue to utilise him out on the left rather than through the middle.

Meireles however, was lucky to stay on the pitch just minutes later after a foul on Zabaleta – catching the defender high up on the shin with his studs up – but only receiving a yellow.

It could be said City had every right to feel aggrieved going into half-time level after dominating the majority of the first-half and with the two decisions – Silva penalty and Meireles red card – not going their way.

The rain continued to lash down in the second-half, Chelsea coming out of the traps with some intent; Sturridge finding space on the edge of the box, his shot flying inches over Joe Hart’s crossbar. The game settled into more of a rhythm from there but with very few chances for either side.

Robust defending from Chelsea saw them break up City’s attacks well and limit the visitors chances with Romeu playing another solid game in midfield. City responded with a series of strong challenges -  resulting in a poor Clichy (58) tackle on Ramires – picking up a second yellow card and a resultant red rounding off a poor night for the French Full-back.

From this point on City looked devoid of ideas and a number of negative substitutions did not help their cause. Creative sparks Aguero and Silva were removed for Kolo Toure and De Jong respectively. Mancini clearly looking to settle for a draw.

Meanwhile, AVB was lining up Frank Lampard to come on in place of goalscorer Meireles.

On 82 minutes, Chelsea were awarded a penalty from Lescott’s handball; Sturridge cutting in onto his left and firing towards goal, the England defender Lescott blocking the ball with his raised arm.

The stage was set for Lampard (83), who took the ball away from Mata to place the ball on the spot and smashed the ball into the roof of the net. It was clear to see what that goal meant to Lampard, kissing the club badge as he celebrated with supporters behind the goal.

That goal signalled an end to Manchester City’s challenge in the game and sparked wild celebrations from the home supporters that continued to the final whistle.

It must be said Man City will rue the opportunity they had when 1-0 up not to push on and go for the win as well as the negative substitutions from Mancini.

But for AVB this win has rounded off a big fortnight, after qualifying for the Champions League group-stage and now moving back into third place in the Premier League the Portuguese manager has managed to quieten some of his critics.

Evan Bartlett 12.12.11

This article can also be found at Tattoed Football http://tattooedfootball.com/?p=943

Real Madrid 1-3 Barcelona

                          

Barcelona fought to a well earned, if not typically stylish 3-1 win at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday evening. Goals from Alexis Sanchez, Xavi and Cesc Fabregas cancelling out Karim Benzema’s first minute opener that stunned the reigning Spanish and European champions.

Madrid had gone into this match as favourites after winning their last 15 games in all competitions but individual performances told on the night as Lionel Messi outshone Ballon D’Or rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

Mourinho set his team out with a clear agenda to press, hassle and harass their opposition, epitomized by the first minute closing down of the Barcelona defence, leading to a misplaced pass from goalkeeper Victor Valdes which resulted in Real’s opener. Di Maria’s interception falling to Ozil who eventually set up Benzema (1) for an easy volley; the Catalan giants looked stunned.

This nervous start from Barcelona continued as Real continued to press for the opening 25 minutes, although a lack of chances were created by the home side. The game took some time to settle into a rhythm as Madrid looked to counter any Barcelona attack and both sides found difficulty in retaining possession.

Indeed Madrid had managed to keep Messi very quiet in the opening exchanges with a strong midfield performance from Lass Diarra in particular. It took one moment of brilliance for this to change however with Messi picking the ball up deep in midfield skipping past two players in a darting run, drawing defenders and finding Alexis Sanchez (30) with a pinpoint through-ball; the Chilean forward finishing with aplomb into the bottom corner past Casillas’ outstretched glove.

Barca continued to settle after the equaliser with Messi dropping deep to pick up the ball in midfield and spark creative plays. Madrid’s game plan in the first half had appeared to work and indeed the hosts went into half-time as the better side.

The second-half saw a tactical change from Guardiola as Alves pushed on down the right, the visitors switching to three at the back. Messi adapted his game to the situation as Madrid’s midfield smothered the creative talents of Xavi and Iniesta which in the first-half had stifled Barcelona’s usual tempo.

Madrid continued their high-pressing game but the formation change from Barca allowed Messi more of the ball and Alves heaps of space on the right. This new freedom for Barca resulted in a chance for Xavi (53) 30 yards out, the midfielder’s volley taking a wicked deflection off Marcelo, which cruelly wrong-footed Casillas, and taking the lead for Barcelona.

That goal signalled a difference in the game, Madrid’s pressing slowed and Mourinho appeared to have no response to the failure of his Plan A. Barca started to create more chances with good link-up from Messi and Sanchez leading to a shot saved by Casillas. Madrid looked to revitalise their game with Kaka coming on for Ozil, the Brazilian playmaker looking sharp when he came on.

The 64th minute saw a great opportunity for Ronaldo to get his name on the scoresheet, the Portuguese forward finding yards of space in the Barca penalty-area but heading well wide from Xabi Alonso’s deft cross.

This miss would prove costly to the home side as Barca attacked through the middle, with another piercing run from Messi, eventually finding Alves on the right with no marker, whipping a cross to the far post where Cesc Fabregas (66) beat his man to head into an empty net.

This goal really signalled an end to Madrid’s defiance in the game, Barca continued to retain possession and with the likes of Keita and Villa coming off the bench only consolidating the Catalans’ superiority. Indeed Iniesta spurned a good chance to score a fourth after a good build up. Madrid failed to respond to Barcelona’s lead and looked flat after Fabregas’ goal, it looked as though Guardiola’s tactical nous has out-foxed the Special One.

Madrid looked rather one dimensional in this game and Barca fended off the early pressure to go on to dominate the second half. Strong performances from Barcelona’s less stylish Puyol, Pique and Busquets in particular limited chances for the home side and a good midfield battle was eventually won by Xavi and Iniesta despite strong games from Xabi Alonso and Lass Diarra.

Moments of individual brilliance from Messi in creating two goals were telling but Ronaldo will surely rue that miss when the score was just 1-2.

This result sets up an enticing second half of the La Liga season, but for now Barcelona fly to Japan for the World Club Championship.

Evan Bartlett 11.12.11

This article can also be found on Tattoed Football http://tattooedfootball.com/?p=899