So, as far as his England future is concerned, the penny has dropped for Frank Lampard. He’s been around the England set-up for years now and despite plenty of opposition, has more often than not, been in the first XI throughout that time. Now though, with the emergence of Wilshere and the re-emergence of Scott Parker, the Chelsea midfielder accepts things are set to change.
After scoring England’s opening goal from the penalty spot at the weekend, Lampard concedes “With England, that happens. I’ve been around a long time and been lucky enough to be very regular, and I tried not to let it concern me. We don’t get the papers in there but I was aware of the talk. It’s a good squad, a strong squad, and never for any minute should any player be resting on their laurels about getting picked. That’s it. I’m 32 now and have been around a long time. So it wasn’t a sleepless night. I obviously want to play and contribute, so I tried to work hard in training and try and give my best all the time.”
Given he’s 33 in June though, as TheChelseaBlog suggested last year, shouldn’t Lampard step aside for England’s new generation of players? He knows his England days are numbered now anyway, so why not concentrate on getting the best out of himself at club level?
For some players, pulling on an England shirt is a pretty thankless task at best anyway and Lampard’s been no exception to that. Chelsea, on the other hand, would certainly welcome him focusing his efforts on getting back to his best for whatever time he has left at club level and his struggle to get back from injury this season suggests a choice is now there to be made.
Choose Chelsea Frank.
Blue is the colour
