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

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