by 110% Thu Oct 16, 2008 11:53 am
Some people on here are stupidly mixing 2 arguments together:
1. Can gerrard and lampard play in the same midfield
2. Can gerrard and lampard play in the same team
I'll answer the 2nd point first as it is easier. If gerrard is playing on the left in place of joe cole, then I guess the same people who think that must also think that joe cole and lampard can't play together either, as joe cole is not really a proper winger and also drifts inside, and yet are asking for joe cole to be in
. The standard argument against them playing together is that they occupy the same space, make the same runs etc, but they can't if one of them is on the left and one is in the middle. They ahve a different starting position so don't get in each other's way. The problem is nothing to do with them being able to play on the same team, the problem is clearly that the position doesn't necessarily get the best out of gerrard.
For the first point the problem is the whole of the midfield rather than just the central midfield which is where so many are focussing on. For one thing many of the games when lampard and gerrard have played together in midfield they have had joe cole and beckham on the wings, neither particualrly fast and neither staying on the wings and being an outlet for them. Being a central midfielder I can tell you that the easiest pass is out to the winger who makes himself available mostly because he's fast so he can get to a ball in front of him, or can chase a ball played in behind. This is why walcott works, and importantly he stays in his position. If you don't have this then you end up going for a long-range shot (lampard) or hollywood style pass to rooney (gerrard). It isn't just about playing them both together it is about getting the rest of the midfield right as well.
I'd also like to make a point about the myth of joe cole. He is seriously overrated. Not purely going on stats but as an indication his stats do read 53 appearances 10 goals, hardly prolific for an attacking midfielder. If you consider his last 2 were against andora, then before that it was 8 in 52. Surely that is poor for someone who many on this board believe is England's "one player who can regularly unlock defences" or "one player who regularly plays well". It would be interesting to know how many assists he has but I don't think it is many at all. In fact out of 53 appearances he's had maybe 15-20 good games, but when people say regualrly plays well for england I would think he has the odd bad game, but 80-90% of the time plays well which clearly isn't the case. He has shown the ocassional moment of brilliance, but he is talked about as if he is england ronaldinho (when he was good), when in fact he is not even the equivalent of england's robinho. If england want a left-winger then have downing, young or whoever. If they want an attacking midfielder to play on the left wing, then there isn't that much difference between having cole or gerrard there, one has trickery, the other power, pace and a good shot. Both will come inside, both will wander away from the touchline, both will try to get it on their right foot to cross etc. Bascially many people's solutions of dropping one of gerrard or lampard and sticking joe cole on the left wouldn't make much of a difference.
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Mostly watched the england game tho, the TV is easier to watch.