Chelsea's Frank Lampard is 'exceptional' says Manchester United's Sir Alex Ferguson

18 May 2009 10:43
While discussing the changing attitudes to alcohol and behaviour in football, Ferguson said he thought players from other parts of the world had a more natural discipline about how they address their profession. When asked of any English players who he thought shared a similar attitude, Lampard's name was top of his list. "Frank Lampard is an exceptional player - a huge asset to Chelsea," he told the Times. "You pay attention to players who can get goals from midfield and he's been averaging 20 a season. "You don't see him getting into stupid tackles or making a habit of becoming involved in silly rows. "When he was sent off against Liverpool two or three months back he walked from the pitch straight away, without fuss. "He stayed restrained in the middle of all that bother after Chelsea were knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona and made a point of swapping shirts with Iniesta - as I say Lampard is exceptional." As a result of Iniesta's stoppage time goal, Barcelona clinched the second spot in the Champions league final, but Ferguson admits he would have preferred to come up against his London rivals. "Chelsea would have presented the more straight forward challenge," he added. "One we've learnt how to deal with over the past year or two. "The way Barcelona operate their midfield makes it very difficult to get the ball off them. But with the right tactics, their game is containable."

Source: Telegraph