Sunday, June 21, 2009

Steven Gerrard vs Frank Lampard: Who's the King?

Since many years before, this argument exists: Who's the better CM in England? Lampard or Gerrard? I'm interested on it since I found out a lot of forums discussed on this topic.

So lets dissect them.

Frank Lampard, born 20th June 1978, is one of the most successful midfielder currently in the Premier League. He's best known for his goalscoring ability and is currently the top goalscorer for Chelsea FC. He had scored at least 10 goals for the past six seasons.

Steven Gerrard, born 30th May 1980, is also a very successful midfielder in the Premier League and perhaps the most influential captain in the league. He's best known for his captaincy whereby he's the driving force for Liverpool FC.

Battle 1: Passings
Both born as world class midfielder, so we couldn't really differentiate about their passing quality. Both Lampard and Gerrard have good and accurate passing ability, although Gerrard might contribute less in this part since he's also good in dribbling.
Results: Draw

Battle 2: Goalscoring
Goalscoring has been a vital part for midfielders since the beginning of the era of modern football. Lampard's consistent goalscoring ability have frequently put Chelsea on the advantage. Whereas Gerrard have started to show his best in goaling only in these recent years.
Results: Lampard wins

Battle 3: Defense
In terms of defense, both of them perform at very different ways. Lampard uses more on his intelligence to anticipate the opponents and steals the ball, whereas Gerrard relies more on his athleticism and slides for the ball. Both of them are good in defense, but not great.
Results: Draw

Battle 4: Dribbling
Lampard is not a dribbler. He exchange passes and find a slot to shoot when possible. Whereas Gerrard is. You can often see him running pass across defenders to shoot.
Results: Gerrard wins

Battle 5: Leadership
Lampard, although can lead well, is not a great leader. This is proven by the captaincy of John Terry at Chelsea. Gerrard is much better in this field. He's the driving machine of Liverpool and often has the ability to change the tides of a game.
Results: Gerrard wins

Battle 6: Physique
Lampard is better. He played for Chelsea for all 38 matches for three seasons. Whereas Gerrard is often disrupted by minor injuries.
Results: Lampard wins

Battle 7: All-Roundness
Gerrard can play multiple positions: LM, RM, CAM, CM and perhaps SS. He overwhelms Lampard in this field completely.
Results: Gerrard wins

Conclusion: Both of them are winners, but if you want me to choose one, Gerrard will win slightly due to his significance for Liverpool. Unfortunately, both of them can't perform their best for their country. It will be England's era now if both of them can cohere perfectly for their country games.

Anyway, this topic is more of an endless arguments since everyone will have different opinions.

What do you say?

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