Frank Lampard has won nearly every major honour in global club football. He is now on the verge of making the least significant contribution to his trophy case: Major League Soccer’s Comeback Player of the Year.
Frank Lampard has well and truly rehabilitated – some might even say salvaged – his career from those dark days as the worst signing in Major League Soccer history. The Chelsea legend’s triumph over that adversity is complete. He has emerged as a finalist for MLS’s Comeback Player of the Year.
Slow clap, Major League Soccer. Slow clap.
We’re sure Lampard is making room among his Premier League trophies, Champions League trophy, Europa League trophy, FA Cups, League Cups, Community Shields and Player of the Year trophies to make room for the Comeback Player of the Year.
More from The Pride of London
- Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea player ratings: Abysmal, reckless, wasteful
- Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea: 3 Blues talking points
- Bournemouth vs Chelsea: 1 Blue Mauricio Pochettino should drop
- Bournemouth vs Chelsea: 3 Blues who must start
- Predicted Chelsea lineup vs Bournemouth: Palmer starts in 4-2-3-1
Lampard could have been a contender for MLS’s Most Valuable Player award. His New York City FC teammate David Villa, who leads the team and is second in the league with 23 goals, nabbed that nomination. Lampard would be the first Englishman to receive the award named for former Everton loanee Landon Donovan.
Nominating Lampard shows a misunderstanding of both his career and his play at New York City FC. For starters, the man is 38 years old. He may have a resurgence, a second-wind or a new lease on life. But at his age, it’s only a comeback if he retired and then Michael Jordan-ed his way back into the game. And the English game, at that.
Young players have comebacks when they emerge from a long slump in performance or return from a serious injury. Kurt Zouma will hopefully have a comeback in the second half of this Premier League season. Eden Hazard is having a comeback after last year’s journey through the wilderness. John Terry and Frank Lampard do not have comebacks. They just keep doing what they always do.
Lampard’s “comeback” assessment also seems weighted heavily by his goal-scoring. In 2015, Lampard scored three goals in 10 appearances for NYC FC. This season, he had 12 goals in 20 appearances. However, Lampard had a stronger defensive and passing season in 2015 than in 2016.
Lampard averaged more tackles, interceptions and clearances last year. He also averaged 10 more passes per game in 2015 than in 2016.
The shift in his statistics reflects a shift in the team’s formation. In 2015 – when he had better defensive numbers than offensive – Lampard lined up as a centre-forward midfielder in a 4-2-3-1. This past season he played right midfield in a 4-3-3.
New York City FC played Lampard forward of his preferred position in the 4-2-3-1. In his best seasons with a Chelsea 4-2-3-1, Lampard used the holding midfield role to play box-to-box. This set him up for his trademark late runs in to the box for a shot. As part of the forward midfield set, Lampard does not have his usual rhythms in midfield or the attacking third. New York City FC’s subsequent shift to the 4-3-3 returned Lampard to another preferred position in a preferred formation.
Next: Chelsea may foot the bill to unload Cesc Fabregas to AC Milan
Lampard’s “comeback of the year” is more rightly described as a “put back of the year.” He scored more goals because he was “put back” in the position where he is historically the most productive on offense. However, his overall contributions to the team were similar across the two years. His performance did not decline. He was merely called on to do different things.