Frankly Speaking
IF HE were so inclined, Claudio Ranieri would be sweating bullets in his sleep. Ramon Abramovich smiled ruefully at the Italian last Sunday in Highbury, spawning all sorts of speculation. Lose on Stamford Bridge on Saturday, Chelsea's dreams of a first championship since 1955 will lie in tatters.
Lose on Saturday and Ranieri, according to veritable British organs, will be shown the door.
The manager has four days to implement a plan that will curb Arsenal's compAlete mastery over Chelsea. If he fails, the strain might even start showing on Ranieri, a human being who appears incapable of feeling pressure. After all the hype, all the signings, all the talk of Russian tycoons, their season hinges on an old-fashioned London derby against a side they just can't seem to beat.
Last Sunday, Chelsea were supreme in the first half, playing with a purpose they lost somewhere around Christmas. In the second half, it was back to the same old schizophrenic Chelsea. Arsenal can bring out the best and worst in the west Londoners. They seem to bring out both the best and worst in Frank Lampard, too.
It was the majestic Patrick Veiria who emerged from the midfield battleground with the most credit, Lampard's game a microcosm of Chelsea's. Assured and confident for 45 minutes, his meekness reflected that of the team's in the second half. Lampard has made Chelsea tick this season, the glue which has held them together. Damien Duff provides the guile, John Terry offers the solidity, Adrian Mutu spins moments of magic. Lampard has been doing all three, all season.
The most improved player in the Premiership over the past two years, influential voices have ear-marked him as a prospective footballer of the year. The next four days are not just Raneri's sternest examination yet, they are also the greatest test for the player he has termed "the complete footballer", particularly after his poor performance in Highbury.
Lampard smiles at the Italian's recent compliment. "Nice one to get from a manager who sees me train and play every day. And I was pleased it came from Ranieri. I have a great relationship with the gaffer. Since I have gone to Chelsea, I have improved a lot and a lot of that is down to Ranieri. He is a good man and all the players respect him, he should be allowed to do it in peace."
That's all Lampard has to say about the speculation that has tagged onto his manager like a stray dog since Chelsea's first defeat this season. There is no better illustration of the harmony in their relationship than Lampard's constant name on the tinker-man's team-sheets, even when the Italian is insisting on experimenting team formations.
In a little over two years at the club, he has transformed into its talisman, a type of Vieria or Keane in blue. Everyone at the club knows of his importance. It is not a coincidence that when Lampard plays poorly, as he did in the second half at Highbury, his team generally follows his lead. But, he has pulled Chelsea, dragged in some cases, through games they didn't want to win this year. Not bad for someone who was stuck with the over-rated tag from very early in his career.
Lampard was part of the talented trio that cropped up in Upton Park a few years ago. While fans were impressed by the ingenuity of Joe Cole and the gifts of Michael Carrick, the jury remained out on Lampard for a long time. His father, a legend at West Ham, was Harry Redknapp's assistant and there were whispers of nepotism. Such begrudgery isn't tolerated now.
Lampard has played in every league game for Chelsea since October 2001, and his improvement as a player over the past season is astonishing. His confidence mirrors this. The new money bought a glut of new players, but Lampard never foresaw himself on the bench. "That never crossed my mind. I was confident, even with the players we signed, I still had a lot to offer and I thought my game would develop because of the quality of players we signed. I think it has gone up another level. I am proud that I have been able to stay in the team, it is not an easy thing to do at the moment."
As the career of Cole, a close friend, stagnates, Lampard's moves ever upwards. His development as a footballer has been put down to a development of maturity as a character. The FHM which sits on his lap during the interview is the only nod to his laddish tendencies, the infamous Heathrow incident where himself, John Terry and Eidur Gudjohnsen, all boozed up, started misbehaving in front of American tourists desperately trying to get home the day after the attack on the Twin Towers, led to Lampard being fined £80,000 by the club. It also saw him being dropped from the England squad, a move which probably denied him a place on the plane to Japan.
There have been sex videoes from Ayia Napa which the News of the World managed to get their grubby hands on, and rumours of a tryst with Jordan (News of the World again), but these days Lampard seems older than his 25 years. He has done a lot of growing up in the past three years, which has seen him already bracketed in with the likes of Paul Scholes and Vieira, the skilled Frenchman who Lampard must get the better of Saturday to re-ignite the Chelsea challenge.
"What can you say about Patrick Vieira, he is as close to the complete midfielder as you can get. For the past five years, it has been himself and Roy Keane have been the two best midfielders in England, and it is those kind of players you want to test yourself against. Personally, I love going into a match facing someone of Vieira's calibre, it gives the game an extra edge, not that you really need that against Arsenal. But I think every midfielder in the Premiership loves testing himself against Vieira."
Lampard acknowledges Arsenal hold the indian sign over Chelsea, but can't explain why. "Saturday's game will have a massive bearing on where the two teams will end up in the Premiership. Arsenal are the one team that Chelsea have struggled to beat over the past four or five years. We need to change that at some stage and there will be no better time to do that at Stamford Bridge.
Does he believe that only a trophy will justify the outlandish spending of owner Amramovich? "People looking in from the outside, they will certainly think that, that with all the signings and the new owner, that the pressure is on us, as a group of players, to have a trophy to show for the investment. Within the club, we don't think like that. But with the players we have, we really should have a trophy by the end of the season."
Their wobble over Christmas had many wondering aloud if Chelsea were as close to the finished product as some thought. So, the cheque-book came out and Scott Parker arrived. But of all the captures of the past nine months, one has left the others in his slipstream. And he holds the future of Irish football at his feet.
"Duffer has brought loads to the team. Ask anyone in the club about him and they will just smile, everyone around the place knows what a player he has been since he has come . His ability to beat people and create chances for people, it is second-to-none really.
"I played against him when he was with Blackburn, but he is far better than I thought he was back then. I thought he had the ability to beat a man, to cross the ball, to score and create. But playing with him, you appreciate how good he is. He gives the team an extra dimension and you can see when he has been out this season we have missed him. We missed him over the Christmas period and you could see that in our results."
Three seasons ago, just before his £11million transfer to Chelsea, Lampard scored 14 goals from midfield for the club where his father is revered as an icon. Frank snr will probably have to watch junior get that sort of demi-god status across the Thames. At the time of this interview, Lampard had already bagged 11 goals. His short-term goal for the season, apart from a treasured medal and Euro 2004 place, is to beat that record.
"I have always got into goal-scoring positions, but I think with experience you become wiser, you know when to make the runs, when to shoot. I am doing that better than I did before. When I was younger, I used to run forward a bit much, and maybe a bit soon. I am checking my runs now and running into positions more cleverly."
His form means Eriksson won't be able to overlook him for the summer's big show. The fall-out from the Heathrow incident meant he was left out in the cold when England went to Japan. The memory of that still pains him, particularly when he was reckoned, Zola notwithstanding, Chelsea's best player that season. Problem is Scholes is also in the form of his life and with each passing week in Spain, David Beckham is looking more and more like a central midfield player. He will be in the squad, but the ambition is to get into the team.
"There are a lot of possibilities. If I continue my form with Chelsea, I should play myself into the squad. And that is what I want to do, first and foremost. I have never been to a big championships and I would never assume I am there. But, if I do get into the squad, then I will have to push myself to play well in the build-up games and maybe work my way into the team. Of course, central midfield is our strongest position at the moment, Scholesy is at the top of his game now, and there are a few others."
THAT is in the future. The here and now sees Frank Lampard and Chelsea face into a game that will be the axis for the rest of their season. His manager might call him the complete player but he looked simply a shell of that in Highbury last Sunday. Time to redress the balance. Time to rectify the problems Arsenal pose for Chelsea. It might be time for Frank Lampard to save his manager's job.
THIS year is the 10th anniversary of the world famous adidas Predator boot, and Frank Lampard is one of a number of Premiership players, including Steven Gerrard and Patrick Vieira, who are wearing its latest incarnation Predator Pulse, the most precise, accurate and powerful football boot ever made.
The new Predator features the revolutionary PowerPulse Technology developed in co-operation with the University of Calgary. Scientists found that shooting fired with these boots increased ball velocity by up to 3%.
PowerPulse technology is based on a simple principle, the optimal mass distribution of the mass. This means the centre of gravity is moved to where it matters most, close to the point of impact. 40 grams of weight have been relocated to the behind the forefoot front of the shoe. Despite this, Pulse is the lightest Predator ever.
The result seems to be obvious and simple. Moving weight behind the strike zone means increased ball speed and ultimately less reaction time for a goalkeeper in simple terms, the ball gets to the goal faster. For example, a 30 yard free kick struck with Predator Pulse will arrive at goal two and a half feet ahead of a ball struck with a standard boot. adidas has also rethought the position of the trademark Predator elements. A swerve zone has been placed along the instep and a strike zone higher up on the forefoot. These increase both the swerve and power of a shot.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
