I think it's generally accepted on here that frank hasn't looked his best this season, in terms of statistics and his actual contribution to games. In my opinion it's once again the problem of the formation- I don't want to sound like a broken record but he performed much better as the attacking player in the 4-3-3/4-5-1. Why? He's not Deco, he's not brazilian or as good as Mikel is at keeping the ball with few options in a diamond formation- he's not kaka and although we deify him i think he the difficulty of keeping being effective in the diamond team is a job for a different player- he needs to options out wide all the time and more freedom.

anyhow- what are your thoughts?

pauly

I haven't voted, as I couldn't make my mind up - it could have been any one of options 2, 3, 4 or 5 - maybe even the last one, as God certainly ain't a Chelsea fan

ok bluebeard. take your time and we'll come back to you when you're ready.

he's scored 21 gls, got 20 assists or something like that, but the key stat of the season has been making a club record 60 apps...he was playing just as well as always until a few months ago when he hit the wall...tiredness played a big factor although I'd also say his experiences with England have affected his confidence...for some reason the nation holds him personally responsible for our world cup failure and even mcclaren swallowed the myth by dropping him against andorra...i think that hurt him a lot...the last two months may have been his worst spell in a chelsea shirt, but we are judging him by the very high standards he has set...if we compared him to ballack, then there would be no need for a poll

From your options, "Tiredness" is viable.

I don't share your opinion about the formation. He has been playing actually as box-to-box in the 442 diamond, rather then at the tip, and rightly so IMO. Let me rephrase that. He has been carrying most of the team's duties in midfield on his shoulders.

He - along with Ballack or Essien, should be playing where they did, the issue was - as I said on another thread - his tiredness (ridiculous amount of games last seasons), along with the initial lack of adaptation to his new partner Ballack and the formation itself. Not that THE formation itself doesn't suit him!

As I also said previously, send him on a 1 month holiday at the caribean sea with a mojito or five in his hand. At the begining of the next season, him along with Ballack or Essien with a PROPER n.10, (or at least a more creative player and better passer on the front tip of the diamond) and he will be brilliant again. I don't care if he doesn't score 20 goals and does 20 assists a season, as a matter of fact, that's not supposed to be his obligation at all. Just get him driving the team forward, get him defending as well as attacking (aka box-to-box) and he will show his best qualities.

some good points nando- i find it a little silly to say that he has had a good season because of the amount of games he's played- he shouldn't have played so many, especially considering he hasn't been performing- if i sing hit me baby one more time by britney spears for you 487 times badly does this mean i have done a good job? No- Only The Brit will be happy with my choreography.

The other point was not where he plays in the diamond, but that we play a diamond in general. That he has no options to pass to out wide which makes it so much harder to keep the ball.

p

I haven't voted either. Can't decide.

Maybe he never got over how poor he was at the world cup. I dont believe it but i'd probably have voted for it, had it been an option.

Why has he not performed this season?

Oliver Holt's latest Mirror article states:

Chelsea didn't win their two titles on prima donnas failing to face the music. They won them on the back of proper men like John Terry and Frank Lampard pushing themselves through new barriers of pain and endurance.

I think Frank's *sigh* "poor" form is probably down to his commitment, his effort and his never give up attitude. He doesn't pick and choose him games and he plays when called upin. He doesn't suddenly get an ankle problem that leaves him out of a game, nor does use sickness as an excuse.

I'd blame his determination.

He wasn't bought up like some players, his dad was a pro - sickness wouldn't be an excuse. Maybe he could have sat some games out, especially as he seemed to have the flu for a couple of weeks over Christmas, but he didn't think that was a good enough reason.

If Jose has rested him, he would have been rested. He isn't going to not want to play, he isn't the type to sit on the bench and count his money.

Why has he not performed this season?

Oliver Holt's latest Mirror article states:

Chelsea didn't win their two titles on prima donnas failing to face the music. They won them on the back of proper men like John Terry and Frank Lampard pushing themselves through new barriers of pain and endurance.

I think Frank's *sigh* "poor" form is probably down to his commitment, his effort and his never give up attitude. He doesn't pick and choose him games and he plays when called upin. He doesn't suddenly get an ankle problem that leaves him out of a game, nor does use sickness as an excuse.

I'd blame his determination.

He wasn't bought up like some players, his dad was a pro - sickness wouldn't be an excuse. Maybe he could have sat some games out, especially as he seemed to have the flu for a couple of weeks over Christmas, but he didn't think that was a good enough reason.

If Jose has rested him, he would have been rested. He isn't going to not want to play, he isn't the type to sit on the bench and count his money.

so you went with tiredness?

Yes not that I voted on the poll, because its not as simple as him just being tired. He was tired because of all the effort he put in over the season, not because he played 60 games.

From your options, "Tiredness" is viable.

I don't share your opinion about the formation. He has been playing actually as box-to-box in the 442 diamond, rather then at the tip, and rightly so IMO. Let me rephrase that. He has been carrying most of the team's duties in midfield on his shoulders.

He - along with Ballack or Essien, should be playing where they did, the issue was - as I said on another thread - his tiredness (ridiculous amount of games last seasons), along with the initial lack of adaptation to his new partner Ballack and the formation itself. Not that THE formation itself doesn't suit him!

As I also said previously, send him on a 1 month holiday at the caribean sea with a mojito or five in his hand. At the begining of the next season, him along with Ballack or Essien with a PROPER n.10, (or at least a more creative player and better passer on the front tip of the diamond) and he will be brilliant again. I don't care if he doesn't score 20 goals and does 20 assists a season, as a matter of fact, that's not supposed to be his obligation at all. Just get him driving the team forward, get him defending as well as attacking (aka box-to-box) and he will show his best qualities.

great post nando, totally agree.

I don't think he's had a bad season, just, again, like last season, he's missed the ultra consistency that marked his best wo years- the last season with ranieri, and the first with jose (plus the euros that occured in the middle)... but since he's joined chelsea, he's played nearly every game, and then became a first choice for england and has done the same for his country... I think the last couple of years he has struggled to keep his greatest attribute- that metronomical consistency. he's without a doubt one of the top players in the world, and has once again been the top opta index central midfielder- and done it comfortably. in fact, add wingers and still he is second only to ronaldo... and there is a chance you could add strikers and defenders AND STILL, I think he remains top two.

but, he seems jaded, and physically tired at times. it's beginning to tell, all of these 60 plus games each season, all with high pressure.

I think it takes him 4 or 5 games to adapt to playing without wide targets to pass to, because he doesn't have the natural talent of a seedorf or a ballack- he can do it, but it won't come as naturally, so constant switching between systems like that won't come so easily.

I'll vote tiredness, but it is more than that. give him some more rests, take him off when our new football gives us 4-0 leads so there is less pressure to have him on, and defending. let him miss more cup games- there should be games where you can give him one half and ballack the other...

A combination of all of the options 2-5. With tiredness at the top of the list.

You just can't play two 50+ game seasons back to back with a world cup in between, and no pre-season training (jetting off around the US instead), and expect consistant, high level performances.

I think our direct (sometimes long-ball) playing style this season hasn't lent itself to good midfield play.

I think that for the last two seasons, Lamps has had a very defined role as the "attacking" player in a three man midfield, with Maka and Essien/Tiago being the other two nailed on starters.

This season has seen lots and lots of rotation of the central midfield three (or sometimes four), with no stability in the other positions. This season has seen both Ballack, Mikel and Essien at times playing as a "second Lampard" - which has added to the confusion if you ask me. Lamps has had to change his role slightly, so that he shares the attacking play with Ballack, which hasn't exactly worked the way it should so far.

And, the events of the world cup in the summer must have effected Lamps's confidence. For the best goal-scoring midfielder in the world (and at the time, one of the best penalty takers going around) to suddendly lose those abilities on the biggest stage must have dinted his confidence a bit.

Anyway, the fact that he STILL managed to score 20+ goals from midfield, along with all the assists despite these problems is testament to what a great player he is. Make no mistake, he will be back in a big way next season.

I went with tiredness.

I must say though, does tiredness effect a players ability to take corners or freekicks to a standard that is demanded by a team of our stature? The amount of times this season we've lamented Lamps' poor delivery makes me wonder how many more assists/goals he would have accrued if this part of his game had been more consistantly at a higher level. A case in point was the central freekick he took on Sunday against the Arse in the second half that he blazed over, I just knew he was going to miss, and too many times he fails to beat the first man on his corners, I think this has had a direct effect on Terry's goal scoring exploits this season and yeah I know he gets hugged to death in the box but the ball seldom gets anywhere near him.

These are things that he can work on though and I wouldn't change Lamps for any other player as when he's on form there are few better.