Frank Lampard getting booed by England Fans

[Adzio]

I see once again Frank is getting booed by So-called England fans (West Ham , Liverpool , Man Utd fans) .

If i was Frank i would say stuff it , i don't need this because believe me one day the press and fans will say come back Frank we need a goal scorer from Midfield because Steve Gerard is the most over-rated Player i have seen.

When was the last time Stevie G played well for England (can't remember), Does he get booed "No ".

Frank do yourself a favour concentrate only on Chelsea , score another 20 goals this season and say up yours . Even though i am an England Fan i would not hold it against you if you gave international football in.

[Gem]

Frank won't give it up, thats not his character. Quitter? Bottler? No, some are, but not him.

[loz]

Absolutely right Gem - we can leave all that 'walking away with their tail between their legs' to the likes of Paul Scholes.

Best thing for Frank to do is ignore it, get on with his game, bang in a goal, and cup his hand to his ear in a 'You were saying' kind of way.

[Dorset]

Great article by Martin Samuel in the Times today (posted in the Gerrard MoTM thread as well) on this very subject. Says it all really...

Steve McClaren refusing to accept people?s vote

A matter of minutes before the end, Gareth Barry was revealed to be the man of the match. The sponsors could have saved time and made the announcement before kick-off. Gordon Brown has not courted popularity so shamelessly. Barry was always going to be man of the match because he is Not Frank Lampard; and being Not Frank Lampard is a guarantee of approval right now. So when Barry was caught out twice in the opening eight minutes, in areas that, if replicated on Wednesday night, will take Russia straight into England?s back four on the counter-attack, it did not register because he was Not Frank Lampard. When he gave away the ball with a poor pass midway through the second half, nobody cared because he is Not Frank Lampard (who made a similar error soon after and was predictably jeered). Even Steven Gerrard turning in an insipid display by Barry?s side did not matter, because it was Not Frank Lampard also playing in the centre of midfield, meaning this was a different type of vapidity, one that comes endorsed by all leading phone-ins, message boards, most national newspapers and other dedicated followers of fashion.

Had Lampard and Gerrard turned in such a pedestrian display together, it would have been used to espouse the clich? that they cannot play together. As this was Gerrard and Barry, routine was reinvented as exceptional. Hailed as the best player on the pitch, ahead of the superior Wayne Rooney and Joe Cole, the cheers Barry received for not being Frank Lampard were evidence of public opinion and populist punditry in complete accord. Nothing against Barry. He did fine, he did OK. He was tidy and linked the play well and worked hard and any game in which the mistakes of an individual are so infrequent they can be remembered one by one, is far from shabby. He should start against Russia on Wednesday. So should Gerrard. And so should Lampard. Altogether now: boo.

The arguments are well rehearsed. People pay their money. People are entitled to an opinion. Fair enough; except, on the subject of Lampard, the conformity is too expedient, almost faddish. Some inconvenient truths: Lampard was the best England player against Germany, when he also scored; against Brazil and Estonia, his partnership with Gerrard worked very well; at the moment, when he was injured and left out of the team against Israel and Russia, he was in his best international form since before the 2006 World Cup finals. Lampard?s critics have an alternate view, of course, and forcefully express it, but what of the verdicts delivered before the man had kicked a ball, as happened Saturday? Are they reasoned opinions, too, despite being passed before the event? Lampard was booed before the Germany game, as well, when Steve McClaren rated him the best player on the pitch. Are his prematch detractors blessed by psychic powers? If so, the spirits must have been having a night off.

After inconvenient truths, an inconvenient theory: England need Lampard in Moscow, where a repeat of the 4-3-3 formation deployed against Russia at Wembley is required and the central midfield area needs strengthening. The way that England shaped up in the last 21 minutes against Estonia on Saturday is the way to go and, although the game was long dead by then and it was plain the system needed more work in training, to play 4-4-2 in Moscow would be a lead to Guus Hiddink?s strongest suit.

He can play three at the back then, and five in midfield, outnumbering England in two key areas. Better to change the shape, as happened at Wembley last month, when Shaun Wright-Phillips was pushed high and wide right, Emile Heskey tracked left, and Hiddink, the Russia coach, ended up having to use four at the back, a system he dislikes. Joe Cole was left of England?s midfield three then, but might be considered too lightweight for Moscow, hence the need for Lampard?s inclusion. Joe Cole and Rooney would then be played either side of Michael Owen and Wright-Phillips, whose passing can be careless, would return to the bench. Anyone who thinks this equates to McClaren surrendering to the star system or making an easy call has not been paying attention.

Picking Lampard is less fashionable than crochet right now, particularly at the expense of Wright-Phillips. After all, it is not Lampard?s dad who is part of the BBC?s studio team for England matches. Fortunately, since winning in Andorra, McClaren has cared less for popularity contests and the benefits are manifold. Whether reintroducing David Beckham and Sol Campbell, playing David Bentley or giving regular cameo roles to Phil Neville, he is demonstrably his own man. Bucking the star system was a rare vote-winner, but McClaren needs more than the love of the common people on Wednesday; he needs at least a draw in Russia. And he needs to pick a team to get it.

?Absolutely, we want Frank in Moscow,? the head coach said. ?We must have as much experience as possible. We talked about why he is booed at Wembley and I have no answers. We have expressed our disappointment, but he has to cope and I am sure he will.?

Certainly, England are coping well now. With goals from Wright-Phillips, Rooney and the luckless Estonia defender, Taavi Rahn, McClaren?s team eased through what proved to be a glorified training exercise. Rooney scored his first competitive goal for England since 2004, while the biggest downside of the afternoon, the injury to Ashley Cole, could not overshadow a good day. With the game effectively concluded an hour early, the contest was never going to be high-intensity and many of the crowd had already departed when Barry was recognised for not being Frank. That will have been a disappointment. Maybe they should change the name to the People?s Choice award: but will Barry see off Ant and Dec?

[ianwatkins]

lets hope Rafa pulls Gerrard out of the upcoming France friendly, then we can see Lamps and Barry together. We may then see a few people realising the Gerrard isn't the only option.

[The Brit]

i was more thinking about if england play sh*te without frank in moscow then perhaps people will start waking up to the fact that he isn't to blame for all the things that are wrong with the england team and perhaps realise gerrard ain't that good...well maybe the latter is just wishful thinking

[ethicalstrategy]

i was more thinking about if england play sh*te without frank in moscow then perhaps people will start waking up to the fact that he isn't to blame for all the things that are wrong with the england team and perhaps realise gerrard ain't that good...well maybe the latter is just wishful thinking

You only need to look at the match against Estonia if you want to see that. The only good things to come from that game were the Coles linking on the left and Richards and SWP linking on the right. Barry/Gerrard certainly didn't bring the best out of Gerrard and Rooney/Owen looks pretty average too.

[The Brit]

agree ethical, but people didn't realise that from the estonia game did they(?) and ended up booing frank again!

[ethicalstrategy]

The people who are booing Frank will do it whatever. It's driven by petty club rivalries and fed by the media. The only thing Frank can do is get his head down and do what he does best. I believe that those within the England setup know exactly how good a player Frank is and will use him whatever the booboys think.

As a footnote, it is not such a surprise that Frank is copping some stick. Afterall, he has had a fair few detractors on here. It seems that being consistently good at what you do isn't good enough. Apparently, you are appreciated more if you can run around like a headless chicken whilst occassionally doing something spectacular - I cite Gerrard and before him Beckham as my evidence.

[BLUENUT]

Probably down to the fact that the Wembley crowd looks more like the your average audience from an episode of gladiators than your average ardent football or even England supporters!

The prawn sarnie brigade know f**k all about football!

Wembley is no longer a fortress where players are intimidated, how can they be when the crowd is too busy booing players form their own country.

[Liam]

Apparently, you are appreciated more if you can run around like a headless chicken whilst occassionally doing something spectacular - I cite Gerrard and before him Beckham as my evidence.

Your evidence is well-chosen sir.

What Frank should do, just like the 2 media darlings you have named, is celebrate on his own with the crowd everytime he makes an assist leading to a goal.

[Scott]

[web]http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11967_2801720,00.html[/web]

[The Moos]

Actually interesting to read the comments there. Some are of course pure bulls*it but some aren't that bad.

However, the comments prove one thing. 99.9% of all scousers have no brain.

[Liam]

Andrew Atherton (Liverpool fan) says...

Frank Lampard doesn't seem to show as much committment as do the likes of Gerrard or even Beckham when they play. He never sprints back to help out the defence, like we see Gerrard doing so often. Maybe he considers himself as an attacking midfielder which he probably is but so is Gerrard and Beckham but you'll always see them sprinting back to help out.

This is what we're up against. Exactly what Ethical said.

The idea that Beckham offers more to the team defensively than Lampard is laughable.

Run around more Frank. "Look at me everybody"

[The Moos]

Gerrard might do alot in defence and I actually think that he's pretty good defensively. However, to say that Lampard doesn't help out in defence or that he's not good at it is rubbish. It's like saying that Owen can score goals or that Robinson is a world class keeper

[Guest]

Gerrard might do alot in defence and I actually think that he's pretty good defensively.

To me Gerrard is fine if you give him a free role to chase around and put pressure on the ball carrier. But there was a reason Benitez rarely played him centrally without a 3rd central midfielder and that was because he couldn't hold a position, he'd constantly go chasing the ball and leave a gap in the defense for the opposition to exploit.

[clubhappy]

England fans booing their own players ....No change there then .

[dkw]

gerrard has a better pr team. thats why hes untouchable. after every poor england display, hes the first in the papers saying they hadnt played well AS A TEAM. the TEAM needs to sort it out. therefore making sure no-one zeros in on his poor performance. and hes always in the papers ahead of games saying the TEAM needs to be fired up. they need the bulldog spirit etc.....

[The Moos]

Gerrard might do alot in defence and I actually think that he's pretty good defensively.

To me Gerrard is fine if you give him a free role to chase around and put pressure on the ball carrier. But there was a reason Benitez rarely played him centrally without a 3rd central midfielder and that was because he couldn't hold a position, he'd constantly go chasing the ball and leave a gap in the defense for the opposition to exploit.

Yes, you're right about him not being great at holding a position. What I really meant was that he's good in falling back and trying to retrieve the ball from the opponents.

He's as good as Lampard at that. The difference is that in my oppinion Lampard is better at holding his position. Much thanks to Mourinho.

[g3.7]

IMO jose can take very little credit if any for lamps or terry.

joe cole, paulo, riccy and drogba are another matter.

[SydneyChelsea]

IMO jose can take very little credit if any for lamps or terry.

joe cole, paulo, riccy and drogba are another matter.

I have never agreed more with one of your posts, and don't expect to any time soon.

[Guest]

Really?.........

I don't agree with all of G4's posts. But most of the time he talks sense.

[wicksy]

gerrard has a better pr team. thats why hes untouchable. after every poor england display, hes the first in the papers saying they hadnt played well AS A TEAM. the TEAM needs to sort it out. therefore making sure no-one zeros in on his poor performance. and hes always in the papers ahead of games saying the TEAM needs to be fired up. they need the bulldog spirit etc.....

Absolutely spot on mate. He did it again yestarday after the Russia game. "It's the players fault blah blah blah" No Gerrard you Scouse t*** you in particular played absolutely c**p and if you'd put that chance away to make it 2-0 England would be home and hosed now!

[loz]

It was a miss on a par, if not worse, than keegan's against Spain in 1982 - if I could be bothered I would take a look inat the Liverpool forums to see what lame attempts they are making at defending him.

[ethicalstrategy]

i was more thinking about if england play sh*te without frank in moscow then perhaps people will start waking up to the fact that he isn't to blame for all the things that are wrong with the england team and perhaps realise gerrard ain't that good...well maybe the latter is just wishful thinking

Well you got what you wished for! We were pants. The world beating Barry Gerrard axis was nowhere to be seen. McLaren had SWP and Cole playing at left and right back. I actually thought Owen had been subbed - it came as quite a surprise 10 minutes later to see him still on the pitch.

Watching MOTD last night was embarrassing. How they could claim that England played well and deserved to win is beyond me. We scored a very good goal from a long punt by Robinson, a great jump by Owen and an excellent finish from Rooney. That apart we created nothing other than from a couple of set pieces. We never kept the ball, we played too deep, and after the first goal we just fell apart. What the hell was Rooney doing anywhere near his own box in open play? He's a striker ffs!

I suppose that the only two good things about the match are that it should mean the end of McLaren and they can't blame the whole thing on Frank.