HAS THE TIME COME TO PULL THE PLUG ON FRANK LAMPARD'S ENGLAND CAREER?

It is a question that has been on a few journalists’ lips this week. Has the Chelsea star still got another major tournament left in him?

Lampard is now 32. And although he is still banging in the goals from midfield for Chelsea he is just not the same player for England. Hasn’t he been given enough playing time? I believe he has. He has not delivered in the three lions shirt for many years.

People will suggest you could say the same about Steven Gerrard, but there some important differentials to be made.
Firstly, Lampard has, bar the very odd and rare occasion, been played in his natural position of central midfield. Whether it has been along side Gerrard, Owen Hargreaves, Michael Carrick or Gareth Barry, he has not been really been asked to play in a position somewhat un-familiar to him.

Gerrard is a different case. His superior ability and versatility has (paradoxically) often been a hindrance. Such a gifted player in a number of positions, he has been stuck on the right of defence and midfield under McClaren, often played on the left side of midfield under Capello, located up front under Eriksson and even played in a defensive midfield role under Keegan.

Only in the first dozen or so of his 87 caps has the Liverpool skipper played centrally or behind the front man, where he is so effective for his club side.

Lest us not forget, Gerrard has been voted in UEFA’s team of the year on five occasions in the last seven year. He is a wonderfully gifted individual, but needs to be played centrally.

As possibly the finest contemporary exponent of the late run into the box, Lampard has probably deserved his numerous opportunities in central midfield. His marvelous record at Chelsea over the past seven seasons, where he has scored over 20 goals a season on numerous occasions is phenomenal. But it doesn’t make him ‘un-droppable’ for the national team.

Gerrard, two years younger than his England team-mate, should now be sole owner of the advanced midfield role alongside either a Gareth Barry or a fit Owen Hargreaves (unlikely I know). And his outstanding performances as captain over the last three games suggest he should now also be installed as permanent skipper. Can we really rely on Rio Ferdinand to be fit often enough?

In his defence, during his early days for England, Lampard was a revelation. Three goals in four matches at Euro 2004 appeared to be sign of things to come. His performances in the qualifying matches for the 2006 World Cup were also outstanding. He scored five goals in ten matches, but then, somewhere along the line, it all seemed to go wrong.

Having entered the tournament as runner up in both the World and European player of the year awards the previous year, he under performed dramatically. Despite having 25 shots during the tournament (more than any other player) he failed to score in any of his five matches.

Steven Gerrard, although not outstanding, and appearing to be playing the less advanced of the two, scored two goals in four matches and was a far more potent and reliable threat.

At this year’s World Cup finals, hopes were high again. Lampard entered the tournament on the back of his most outstanding season to date, having scored 27 goals in all competitions.

In South Africa, however, he was once again a major flop, failing to score in the group stages. Like every other England player, he was abysmal in the second group match against Algeria. But at Chelsea, Lampard is renowned for his ability to score goals in drab low scoring games, so why can’t he do the same for England? Surely games such as these are tailor made for him to demonstrate his un-doubted talents.

It would of course be unfair to single Lampard out as the only poor performer in that game, but I’m sure you all get where I am coming from and he is supposed to be one of the star players'.

The Romford born boy will for ever be remembered as the man who ‘scored but didn’t' against Germany in Bloemfontein, and although he also hit the bar in that match, he has now (officially) gone nine World Cup matches without a goal. For a player with Lampard’s reputation and ability, that is clearly not good enough.


Gerrard meanwhile, though not outstanding during his three major tournaments (plus a 20 minute cameo versus Germany in Euro 2000) has scored four goals in three separate tournaments and was probably (in most people’s view) England’s best player at this year’s World Cup. This despite being stuck out on the left of a four man midfield.

The Liverpool star is, quite simply, a far more effective and dynamic option who offers so much more to the team than Lampard, who, if he not scoring, offers very little else to the team.

He certainly doesn’t’ offer any more than Gerrard does if he not scoring goals, and Gerrard’s delivery from free kicks and set pieces is equal to, if not better than the Chelsea man.

Certain statistics also make for some interesting reading. Lampard has played 83 times for England and scored 20 goals, while Gerrard has four more caps and scored 19 goals. This surely goes against my argument you may suggest?

No. Lampard has been England’s regular penalty taker since 2004 and has scored five penalties for the national team (while also missing a couple as). He can’t even score regularly from 12 yards these days for England.

Another interesting statistic is their comparative records while playing for England. Lampard has been on the winning side on 49 occasions in his 83 matches, while Gerrard has won 59 of his 87 matches while in the side. The Liverpool man has also only lost 10 of those 87 games, while Lampard has been on the losing side 16 times.

Of course, there are ten other players in the team and these figures can be attributed to a number of reasons. But I still believe they make for some significant viewing and definitely strike the right note in the Gerrard side of the argument.

This is not supposed to be an anti Frank Lampard rant (although it may appear to be). I am a fan of his, and agree that his performances at club level have made it nye on impossible to leave him out of the England side. This, even when he is not performing to his best at international level.

He has been a wonderful player for Chelsea and has probably been a more consistent performer at club level than his Liverpool counterpart. All the international bosses he has played for have probably been right to persevere with him.

But the stats and the performances, not to mention his age, suggest that Lampard’s time in the centre of England’s midfield is surely coming to an end. After all, Steven Gerrard is the captain and will not be dropped, meaning Fabio Capello has an interesting selection headache for the next game.

Theo Walcott is injured and James Milner is suspended, so will Fabio bring back Lampard and stick Gerrard back out wide. Wouldn’t it be a step backwards?

Maybe Lampard can be stuck out on the wing this time. He has had long enough in the centre and perhaps he can do a ‘Gerrard’ if it is so important for him to be accommodated.

Adam Johnson really has to play after his dynamic performances over the past week and there is no doubt in my mind and many others watching, that Gerrard looked like a different player without Lampard in the side. The current skipper appeared liberated, so what will the Italian manager do?

Lampard fans who are reading this may point to the fact that against Croatia two years ago, Lampard played in the 4-1 win in Zagreb, while Gerrard was back in England nursing an injury.

It was similar circumstances to the win in Switzerland this week. However, that was two years ago and England need to look forward now. Lampard will be 34 in 2012 and 36 come the next World Cup in Brazil. He has scored only nine goals for England since October 2005 and four of those have been penalties.

Gerrard may only be two years younger, but I would suggest there is a big difference between 32 and 34 years old, and as captain and in his most fruitful role of central midfield he can certainly lead the team to Ukraine and Poland.

There are some big decisions for Capello to make, but is he brave enough to make them? If he is not (and I fear he he isn't), we will all back to square one once again with the ‘Gerrard-Lampard’ debate. It's just so tedious.

Only when he played with Ledley King at defensive midfield did any manager (Sven Goran Eriksson) attempt to accommodate both Lampard and Gerrard in attacking midfield positions. I remember in a 3-2 win against Argentina in Switzerland in 2005 they were both outstanding. But at that time David Beckham also had to play which meant Gerrard was still stuck out on the left.

The idea petered out, and was rarely attempted again. And why that is, only the managers involved will know. It may have been that Gerrard was not comfortable playing that position on a regular basis or perhaps foreign managers' on the whole, don’t believe English players are flexible enough to play anything other than 4-4-2.

You can counter that by saying many play in these formations at club level (all be it with foreigners around them), but it certainly appears to be the case with the current manager.

Whatever the formation, the days of playing both Lampard and Gerrard – probably the finest duo of midfield players England have possibly ever had during the same generation - have to come to an end sometime.

As I suggested before, is time to look forward for England, and the performances of Joe Hart, Theo Walcott, Adam Johnson, James Milner and even Andy Carrol over the past few weeks suggest the future may be brighter than we had hoped.

Unfortunately for him (in the first eleven anyway) that future, in my view, no longer requires the services of Frank Lampard.