Date: 1st August 2011 at 4:00pm
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Frank Lampard has revealed his desire to be a part of the England squad that travels to the World Cup finals in 2014, but with a new generation of players forcing their way in to Fabio Capello’s plans, the Chelsea midfielder conceded that this would be no easy feat. Lampard will be 36 by the time the finals are underway, and would be second oldest outfield player to appear for England at a World Cup should he be selected, though many seem to have written off the possibility of this happening already.

Lampard has often been the target of frustrated England fans, and has been criticised for his failure to replicate the kind of form he has shown at club level on the international stage. It has also often been argued that Lampard and Steven Gerrard cannot play together in the centre of England’s midfield, though Gerrard has generally not come under fire in the same manner as Lampard, despite having made more appearances and scored less goals than the Chelsea man at international level.

Of course goals are not everything, Gerrard has put in numerous man of the match performances for England and was undoubtedly our best player in South Africa last summer. However, it would be a mistake to suggest that he is able to replicate the kind of form that he shows at Liverpool week in week out; on three occasions Gerrard has scored more goals in a club season than he has throughout his international career, yet England fans do not demand more from their Scouser as they do from Lampard.

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Questions have been raised over Lampard’s future after a season in which he missed nearly a third of games through injury, and was able to rack up a total of just thirteen goals in all competitions, less than half of his total the season before. It is not only Lampard’s international career that is the subject of speculation, with Chelsea seemingly prioritised with locating a new central midfielder themselves, and Luka Modric top of their wish list. Whether or not there would be room for both Lampard and Modric in the Chelsea line up is certainly a contentious issue, but unless ‘super Frank’ can rediscover his form of two season ago, the 33-year-old is only going to come under further scrutiny, and is likely to find himself further down the picking order than he has been used to for most of his career.

Lampard had previously insisted that he would never voluntarily retire from the England set up, but has now suggested that for his “own benefit” and his “own career as a player”, he may be forced to follow the likes of Paul Scholes and focus solely on prolonging his career at club level for as long as possible. With the likes of Jack Wilshere and teammate Josh McEachran gradually establishing themselves at club level, Lampard has conceded his future with the national side is ultimately out of his hands. Lampard will be given his chance to prove his abilities at Chelsea, and it seems only fair that the England manager do the same. Unfortunately for Frank, it seems his England future may have already been decided thanks to media and disgruntled fans, and even consistency at Chelsea may not be enough to earn him a place in the national side for much longer. Questions over Gerrard’s England future are yet to be raised by either fans or the media – he will of course be only 34 though by the 2014 World Cup, and should probably play until the finals in Russia, if not Qatar.

By Thomas Kenny – FootballFanCast.com

 

6 responses to “Is Frank’s England career really coming to an end?”

  1. Lunga says:

    Gerrard in Qatar? Don’t be daft. He’ll be 42.

  2. Gary says:

    A Chelsea revival will require more than a new manager; Chelsea must sign some young stars. A number of the ‘thirty-something’ players are off the pace and despite their last performance the team is clearly lacking players that can consistently open up defences and set up strikers. Chelsea cannot hope to compete with Man Utd and Barcelona in this state. We must stop thinking that Drogba, Lampard, Anelka, Malouda, and Terry can make the difference. They used to, but can’t anymore. There is a whole new generation of stars out there that have a lot more agility. Look what Barcelona did to Man Utd; do we seriously stand a chance against them with aging players? Come on AVB we have to move in the market!!

  3. firas says:

    i think avb is either insane or he is overconfident.. gosh.. wat does he really think?? its gud to see tat chelsea have been doing a gud job in the preseasons.. can we really expect the same in real league with all teams hav become really strong.. u think anelka malouda drogba kalou lampard bosingwa can make a big difference by coming out of the sac and become a hero at the age of 33!!! this is ridiculous. the problem is not this season, next season these players will be older and worser.. even if we get 1or2 players to replace them, it will take time to adapt to the style or the situations just like ramires and torres.. we need some solid creative midfielders and some natural wingers unlike selfish malouda.. with this team we wont be even able to compete for first 4!! forget champions league!!!!

  4. hassan lukman says:

    avb and Ron gourlay r only daydreaming if they think dt these deadwoods wl deliver any trophy at d end of nxt season not even a league cup,d best we can do wt ds team is 3rd or 4th bcos d top 2 undoubtedly belong to d 2 manchester club,i knw avb wl wake 4rm ds dream at d end of d season when hs future becomes subject of discusion then he wl regret ever comparin portuguese league wt premiership.

  5. Eidur says:

    I’d say his England career is almost at an end. He doesn’t represent a long-term option.