Lampard Not Going Anywhere?

By: Rob | July 8th, 2008

$Lamaprd\'s Last Chelsea Goal? Maybe not.$ The big news to come out of new Chelsea manager Luis Scolari’s first press conference at the club is that midfielder Frank Lampard isn’t going anywhere. It has long been assumed that the controversial England man would be moving on, probabaly to Inter Milan. Jose Mourinho, the new coach at Inter is known to love Lampard and once described him as the “best midfielder in the world”. Coupled with the fact that Scolari’s first signing was Deco, and Lampard was “holidaying” in Italy, it seemed to make sense.

We heavily praised Avram Grant’s ‘Wishbone’ midfield here at the Champions League offside, which allowed Lamaprd and perennial runner-up Micheal Ballack to play in the same midfield. What I’m not sure about is if he wants Lamps to stay, how Scolari is going to fit a midfield which includes Deco into that formation, as all three play in pretty much the same position.

My only speculation can be that Ballack is going to start dropping deep at the expense of Chelsea favourite Micheal Essien, and Deco is going to slot into the role Ballack played last year.

It is still quite surprising if Lampard does stay. As I said, he probably would like to hook back up with José at Inter, and he could have a whole new side built around him, which is where he’s best. Fans in England have also turned against him (He went from being voted England’s best player in 2005 to ‘Fat Frank’ after the 2006 World Cup) so it might be a good idea for him to go abroad. And it’d give Don Fabio an excuse to go back to the motherland now and then.

All in all, I think a move to Italy makes sense for him. I understand that he’s come to represent the post-Roman Chelsea in a way, he very much is an icon of the side. But this is the last chance he’ll have to try his hand abroad. It doesn’t always work (see Thierry Henry). But he might go from Chelsea icon to rotated player unless Scolari has something magic up his sleeve.