Source: Telegraph
Frank Lampard just has the edge over Steven Gerrard
Everton v LiverpoolKick-off: Wed Feb 4, 8.00pm; Goodison Park, LiverpoolTV: ITV1, ITV HD, Setanta Sports 2 (Scotland only)Radio: Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio Merseyside [LNB]I suspect that England manager Fabio Capello, the only person in the world actually empowered to select one or the other (or both), would be of like mind, at least for a while, until the Chelsea midfielder's legs go. [LNB]The professionalism shown by Lampard when he moved back into a semi-holding role alongside Gareth Barry for last year's brilliant England win in Croatia will take a long time to drive from the memory. [LNB]The ideal, of course, would be to accommodate both and, while doubts remain, Capello has been able to surprise us before. Sunday's match at Anfield is a reminder that the task might have fallen to Jose Mourinho had Chelsea been successful in their pursuit of Gerrard either in 2004, when he partnered Lampard during the European Championship, or the following summer. [LNB]Emotional arguments came into Gerrard's decision to stay at Liverpool. As they should – emotion, after all, pays a player's wages – but seldom do. Gerrard has since become a European champion; Lampard has not. But Lampard has twice celebrated English titles. Clues as to which of them is more likely to lift a glittering prize this season will be sought on Sunday afternoon. [LNB]Luiz Felipe Scolari sighed on Friday when asked to compare them in advance of the match. "Look," said the Chelsea manager, who had earlier attempted to pre-empt any argument by marvelling at England's luck in having "the best No 10 and No 8" in the world, ''I think if you put Lampard and Gerrard in a machine and analysed them, you'd see little difference. Lampard goes up and back for 120 minutes and Gerrard's the same, Lampard shoots very well and so does Gerrard. [LNB]"They are about the same size. Both challenge well in the air. And so on. And who is happy? Capello, because, in this position, he has the two best players.'' [LNB]Asked if he, Scolari, would like to have both, he replied: ''It would be very good for Chelsea.'' But would it? Can a team have two double-digit goalscoring midfielders these days? We shall see how Capello fares. But my feeling is that Lampard's age, or to be more precise experience, gives him the edge. He seldom wastes a ball. [LNB]The one point on which I even marginally disagreed with Alan Smith was his assertion that Gerrard ''takes more risks than his counterpart in possession, which leads to the odd ball going astray''. In my view Lampard has an exceptional gift for selecting and executing the right pass. He scores goals too. [LNB]True, if you needed someone to rescue a match with two minutes remaining, you would be looking at Gerrard and not Lampard, and this may have been in the mind of the questioner who wondered if today's outcome might hinge on how well John Obi Mikel policed Gerrard. Scolari scoffed. "And Torres? And Riera? Mascherano?" But surely Gerrard was Liverpool's "heartbeat"? Such philosophies can be like a red rag to the managerial bull. "No, no, no,'' said Scolari. "I'm thinking of the whole Liverpool.'' [LNB]If he had to single anyone out, it would be the "fantastic'' Dutchman Dirk Kuyt. Kuyt is a team player. It is a team game. And thus, while we are entitled to debate the merits of Lampard and Gerrard as if looking ahead to a boxing match, let's be grateful for football's complexity. [LNB]
