Gerrard or Lampard?

One month ago yesterday, England put in their best performance in years to humble Croatia 4-1. Three days later and Liverpool put in theirs, beating Man Utd in the league for the first time in what feels like a lifetime. The big name missing from both of those winning teamsheets – Steven Gerrard.
While it would be churlish of me to suggest that the midfielder’s absence was the only reason behind those significant victories, wins that have invigorated both Liverpool’s and England’s campaigns, it is no coincidence either.
This isn’t meant as a personal attack. I’m sure Stevie G’s a very nice bloke. I don’t know and don’t care how many GCSEs he’s got; his cringeworthy wannabe WAG Alex Curran is only interesting because she helps draw comparisons with David Beckham.
Becks’ finest hour was, quite scarily, seven years ago, as he rescued England’s World Cup qualification hopes with that last minute free-kick at Old Trafford. He was of course hailed as a national hero for his all-action display. But by many of the more knowledgeable football spectators in the country, it was pointed out that had Beckham not spent most of the game chasing the ball, out of position, playing his famed Hollywood passes, England wouldn’t have needed saving in the first place.
Gerrard’s all-action displays and versatility for Liverpool often earn him the label of a ‘complete midfielder.’ He runs, tackles, passes, shoots, even takes set-pieces. Every time penalties shows itself as the worst way to settle a tied contest, we get a number of suggestions for better options, my favourite being an extra time period in which both teams lose a player every 10 minutes until a winning goal is scored. He’d be pretty handy at that.
Beckham and Gerrard are one of a rare number of players who often manage to make themselves look very special as their teammates flounder alongside them. Beckham was a one-man team that day against Greece, and Gerrard often looks like one in rescuing Liverpool from their stickiest moments.
But, as displayed by the defeat of Man Utd at Anfield in September, Rafa Benitez’s most successful tactical approach is the one where he sets his team up to press the ball high up the pitch. It completely stopped United’s passing game, as it did to so many of Europe’s top sides on the way to Champions League triumph in 2005, with Gerrard also absent for big games in the knockout rounds. It requires tremendous discipline from the whole side, the midfield in particular. Discipline that Gerrard doesn’t have.
All too often, he runs around like a headless chicken, giving away possession with those Hollywood balls he’s learnt off Becks, and then finding himself hopelessly out of position whilst trying to win it back.
I’d be a fool to doubt his worth to Liverpool in recent years, scoring invaluable goals at key moments.
But ask yourself this, how often does a top performance from Gerrard come with a top performance from his team? He’s the opposite of influential.

He’s been the heart of the Liverpool side for years now, because they’ve had no other playmaking option. But England do.
When Gerrard, and accomplice Benitez, timed the Liverpool skipper’s minor groin op perfectly to escape England duty whilst not missing any club games, Gareth Barry was partnered in midfield by Frank Lampard.
Of course, the Chelsea midfielder is no newcomer. He’s been arguably the finest midfielder in the Premiership for the past five years, repeatedly breaking the 20-goal-a-season mark. He powered Chelsea to back-to-back titles under Jose Mourinho and got himself a second place in World Player of the Year in the process. Most importantly, he was sublime against Croatia and in imperious form for the Premiership pacesetters this term. He’s taken his, always impeccable, passing game to whole new levels now partnered with Portuguese playmaker Deco.

Both Sven-Goran Eriksson and Steve McClaren tried to partner Gerrard and Lampard together in centre midfield on repeated occasions, and enjoyed very little success. But Avram Grant, and more latterly Phil Scolari, have partnered Lampard and Michael Ballack, a duo who bare very closely resemblance to the Lampard-Gerrard model, together in the same side with great success.
It is now almost universally accepted that Lampard and Gerrard can’t play together. But the more important conclusion that must be drawn from the Croatia game, where Lampard played a lot deeper than usual in an excellent performance, is that Gerrard and Wayne Rooney can’t play effectively in the same side. With Rooney dropping off his strike partner, they play in the same space, and get in each other’s way. When the Man Utd forward was left to pull the strings in Zagreb, the results were fantastic.

Unfortunately, for tonight’s Kazakhstan game, the weakness of the opposition should allow Fabio Capello to pick Lampard, Gerrard and Rooney and still secure an easy victory. With Joe Cole’s injury leaving Stewart Downing as the only natural left winger, Gerrard could play out there – another example of a square peg in a round hole, or worse as part of a 4-3-3 that doesn’t suit any of them, especially Rooney.
Fabio, it’s a ballsy decision, but the right one. Pick the team with future challenges in mind. Show that you pick on form and not name. Lampard, not Gerrard.