He did not make the starting XI for England on Wednesday night against Scotland but it was good to see Frank Lampard on the pitch in the second half winning his 98th international cap.
The midfielder came on as a substitute during the second half to replace Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere. The Three Lions were struggling with Gordon Strachan’s side, who took the lead twice during the match and had to be pegged back twice before Southampton’s Rickie Lambert scored the winner.
It was positive from a Chelsea point of view to see the 35-year-old was in good shape as he didn’t feature as much as Jose Mourinho would have liked over the pre-season due to injury. Lampard was also effective at controlling the midfield, which is something he struggled to do playing a deeper role last season, and could have added to his goal tally but for Allan McGregor’s fine save from a thunderous Lampard effort from long range.
England’s next two fixtures will be the World Cup qualifiers against Moldova (home) and Ukraine (away) in September, if all goes well for Lamps he’ll be picking up his 100th cap in the latter and it would be a fully deserved milestone from a player that’s accustomed to them after making himself Chelsea’s all-time goal scorer (203 goals) last season with a crucial brace against Aston Villa. Let’s hope he can add to his 29 international goals too.
For much of last season it looked as though Lampard would be going out the door this summer but the announcement that he would be staying for at least one more season came shortly before Jose Mourinho returned back home to Stamford Bridge, and although Lampard isn’t the player he was you can bet Mourinho will get the best out of him. He may not have the all-round midfield abilities as others in the squad but there haven’t been many players in world football that have a goal tally like Lampard’s.
