Personally I don’t think Lampard’s sitting on the bench should be a matter of form. I see it as the best tactical play that we can adopt. There is so much noise about it, and it just doesn’t make sense. Giggs has been coming from the bench for years and look what he gives Manchester United.
Lampard sitting on the bench is good for us, he wants Chelsea to win, to be part of a team that wins the Champions League. Why should he not want the team to be able to play well without him? One major reason for the poor form last season was that the team had to play without Lampard.
Our play has been built around him over the years and he has not failed us. Even with the arrival of Ballack and Deco, he still was our main man because he is that good. Two/three years ago he would never have been benched, even had he been a Barca player. He is so good that even without all the support players like Rooney gets, he continues to deliver through his career.
Because of his brilliance the the other teams United and Liverpool have not been able to dominate English football and the Blues have been a major force.
Yes, he plays better at Chelsea than England – And he get gets abused for that, it is not as if he makes up his mind to play poorly for England. England produced one of the best midfielders in World football and he passes like a star. but sadly he does not not have the same success in the white of England as he does in the Blue of Chelsea.
How many players can carry a team like he does? How many players can score the amount of goals he scores from midfield? People will say Gerrard, young Fabregas, Milner, should all be ahead of him; anybody who performs well in midfield is better than lampard which is a disgrace! The season he scored his record number of premiership goals and Chelsea won the League he was not even named in the team of the season. It was ridiculous!
Lampard would have done much better for England, had the fans stood by him the way we have at Chelsea and how we are now supporting Torres. He does well for Chelsea, because we stand by our own – Lampard is blue for life.
If he sits on the bench, it’s not because he is no longer good enough, but because we want our team to be stronger. We already know what he can do. We saw him come on against Fulham and ensured our victory. Anyone who speaks against Frank Lampard is biased. As much as I want Josh to play, I would not insult him by telling him he is not in form. One reason, why I would keep him on the bench and play Mereiles and Josh is because I want a stronger team, then during the final rounds of the Champions League I want a fresh Lampard.
AVB is wise to make the decision, but like I said it should be a matter of tactics, not form. Anyway, Lampard’s opinion should be sought: If he wants to play every match let him play; he is a genius and should know better.
By Stan Blue