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Why Chelsea and England Midfielder Frank Lampard is an Excellent Role Model for All Young Players

Stewart Flaherty, November 14 2011,
Frank Lampard captained England for the second time in his career during last Friday’s 1-0 win over reigning world champions Spain.
Frank Lampard cuts a focused figure before leading England to victory over Spain.
Frank Lampard cuts a focused figure before leading England to victory over Spain.
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Lampard performed strongly in a resilient defensive performance from England, and scored the decisive goal when he headed home a loose ball inside the six-yard box.

The England captaincy will now be stripped from Lampard after he has done nothing wrong, and handed back to under-fire John Terry.

The reaction to this from Lampard is sadly uncommon in today’s professional football environment. Lampard will take it like a man, not complain and simply do the job he is asked to do by Three Lions boss Fabio Capello.

Compare this to Michael Ballack’s behavior during the World Cup in 2010. Ballack was unable to participate in the South Africa tournament, so was obviously replaced as captain.

Bayern Munich defender Philipp Lahm took the armband, and played well as Germany impressed during the tournament. Rather than express joy for hs country’s success, Ballack sat at home and complained about how unhappy he would be if he did not automatically regain the captaincy whenever he returned.

This means that even if Germany had won the World Cup and Lahm captained them excellently, Ballack believed that would have no relevance and he would demand the honor back or he would sulk. The attitude of Ballack was obnoxious, self-centred but sadly not unique.

When you bear this in mind, it is refreshing to know that Lampard will merely do the best he can for his country, regardless of whether or not he gets things his own way.

Lampard has also suffered the disappointment of being benched by both club and country this season. His reaction to being benched, and subsequent performances are a case study for any young professional in how to deal with disappointment.

Two months ago, Lampard was benched by Fabio Capello as England went to Bulgaria and won 3-0 in a UEFA EURO 2012 qualifier. Lampard did not utter a word of complaint, and his England teammate Terry noted how he had “trained incredibly hard the day after.”

With fans and pundits ready to write the obituary on his England career, Lampard returned to the starting lineup for the 1-0 qualifying win over Wales, and has been a regular contributor since.

With such glory and money available on the club scene nowadays, it is not common that a player will deal with adversity for the national team.

Jamie Carragher, Paul Robinson and many others have realized that they do not start for England, so have chosen to retire prematurely from international football. Carragher then went back on his retirement when he wanted to play in a World Cup tournament, but that is another matter altogether.

Paul Scholes actually did play for England under Sven Goran Eriksson, but retired because he did not like the role he was asked to fill for the team.

Lampard also suffered disappointment at the club level this season, when he was benched by new Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas. Lampard waited patiently for his chance to return, and then took it when he scored in a 1-1 UEFA Champions League draw at Valencia.

After the match Lampard may have been tempted to talk up his performance and claim he never should have been benched. Instead, Lampard rightly pointed out that “you have to respect the manager, respect the team and the quality of the squad we have.”

This kind of attitude is a shining example to any young player, and Lampard should be appreciated by both Chelsea and England fans because of it.

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