Frank Lampard Appreciation!!

Frank James Lampard, Jr. was born on the 20th of June 1978 in the town of Romford in the London borough of Havering. He is a midfielder who currently plays for Chelsea in the English Premiership.

Lampard comes from an extremely distinguished footballing family. His father Frank Lampard Sr. was a left back who played for West Ham United. His cousin is Jamie Redknapp, who played for Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur amongst other clubs. His uncle is Jamie's father Harry, who currently manages Portsmouth F.C.

His first goal for West Ham came against Barnsley in the 1997-98 season. The following season saw him establish his place in the West Ham starting 11 and in that season he did not miss a single game as the Hammers finished fifth. It was the first glimpse of the now very well known fitness of the man.

Along with Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Rio Ferdinand, Lampard formed a formidable quartet which was hailed as the future of English football. He made his senior debut against Belgium in a friendly in October 1999, and played for 76 minutes before being substituted for Dennis Wise. He also scored nine times in his U-21 career. Only Alan Shearer and Francis Jeffers have scored more times for the English U-21 side.

When his father Frank Lampard Senior, uncle Harry Rednapp and close friend Rio Ferdinand all left Upton Park in quick succession, Lampard decided it was time to move on. He moved to Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea signing him for £11 million, which raised a lot of eye-brows at the time.

Lampard's first goal for his new club came in a pre season friendly against Northampton Town and soon after he made his Premiership debut against Newcastle United. He was sent off in the game against bitter rivals Tottenham, which was his only dismissal in the Premiership until a recent league game at his former club West Ham.

October 13, 2001 marked the start of a new record in English football as Lampard went on to play 164 games non stop for the Blues. His first two seasons at the club did not reveal all what he was capable of, and he was often overshadowed by the likes of Gianfranco Zola, Roberto DiMatteo and Dennis Wise.

The arrival of Roman Abramovich heralded a new beginning for Lampard, and there has been no looking back from then. He has grown into one of the Premiership's most feared midfielders.

His pinpoint passing and shooting abilities from the edge of the box are his exceptional strengths, and he is the one man who is turned to when set pieces and penalties have to be taken.

The 2004-2005 season was one of the most successful in the history of Chelsea and Lampard played a stellar role, bagging 19 Premiership goals. He also scored four as Chelsea reached the last four of the Champions' League and also helped the Blues to win the League Cup.

He was not selected for Euro 2000 and missed the flight to Korea and Japan for the 2002 World Cup. His first international goal for the Three Lions came against Croatia in 2003 and he has gone on to win more than 50 caps for England.

He currently wears the No.8 jersey which Paul Scholes vacated after his retirement. Lampard has often been accused of not being able to perform as well at the national level as he does at club level. Many view that he and Steven Gerrard are similar players, and that there is room for only one of them in the squad. But there is no doubt that the man puts in nothing less than 100% when on the pitch and his performances of the years supports that fact.

Lampard has recieved a lot of abuse recently. Since the 2006 World Cup, he has gradually become public enemy number one. Although, that title has been taken over by the likes of Ashley Cole and Eboue.

I feel a lot of the abuse has been uncalled for. He had a bad World Cup but who didn't? Steven Gerrard was probably England's best player in that tournament and he was pretty average.

Lampard was regarded by many, and probably still is, as one of England's finest players of this generation. He came second behind Brazilian playmaker Ronaldinho in the poll for the European Footballer of the Year (2005) and FIFA world player of the Year (2005).

He won the Football Writers' Association player of the year award in 2005. He was also part of UEFA's all star Euro 2004 squad.

He has been described by his former manager, the charismatic Jose Mourinho, as the "best player in the world."