FRANK LAMPARD is that rarest of breeds, a 20-goal-a-season midfielder.
This season has thrown up new challenges, however, with his managers
for Chelsea and England both losing their jobs. In an exclusive talk
with Sir Bobby Robson, Lampard discusses Jose Mourinho, his
relationship with Steve Gerrard and why Chelsea haven't changed their
style

SIR BOBBY ROBSON: Frank, we'd better start with an update on your
thigh injury. Will you be fit for Fabio Capello's first England game
on February 6?

FRANK LAMPARD: I don't think so, no. It's a shame. I haven't played
since Boxing Day and it didn't feel right when I started kicking with
my right foot a week ago. So I have to take it on the chin. We've got
Liverpool at home on February 10, so maybe that one. I can't risk any
earlier with Champions League games coming up in February.

SIR BOBBY: I'm not a physio, but with muscular problems it's always
better to take an extra week off once you feel ready.

LAMPARD: That's exactly what my Dad said. His attitude to injuries is
usually: 'You'll be all right son, get out there.' But as soon as I
said I'd done my thigh, he said: 'When you think you're ready, take
another week.' It's true because you can't mess around with those.

SIR BOBBY: They say football shouldn't surprise you. But you have lost
two managers this season, Jose Mourinho and Steve McClaren.

LAMPARD: McClaren's was a bit different, quite a cut-and-dried
decision. If we didn't qualify, he was going to go. I felt bad for
Steve. He went in as a young manager and took all the stuff that goes
with being England manager. The disappointing thing was that he was
just getting into the job. After our run of 3-0 wins, there was a lift
in his team talks and his manner behind the scenes. He was growing.
But the last two games killed him. Killed us all. When we went out,
the tide turned against him. Nobody mentioned we played Croatia
without our first-choice defence. His name has been put down since
then, and I don't think he deserves that.

SIR BOBBY: We were led to believe Jose went because Chelsea wanted to
play a more attacking style of football. Are you told now that if
you're 1-0 up, you must go for the second goal?

LAMPARD: Training is different because Jose had his own methods. But
there is no throwing caution to the wind. If we are winning 1-0, we
don't care if we stay winning 1-0. A lot of our players have that
mentality anyway. We're not trying to be an attractive team where a
3-3 draw is better than a 1-0 win. I found it frustrating when people
threw this negative tag at us under Jose. We were entertaining when we
won the League with Robben and Duff on the wings, and Drogba and
Gudjohnsen up front. Being so strong at the back made people think we
were a defensive team. But we just had a great defence and
organisation. For me, that was the beauty of Jose. He knew how to win,
play good football and to be effective. We didn't play great football
last season but we had John Terry out, midfielders out, our wingers
out. We ended up playing a diamond and fighting for results because
that was the only thing we could do. I wasn't going to run down the
left wing and get crosses in, neither was Ballack. United wouldn't
play with the same fluency without Rooney and Ronaldo. It is
impossible.

SIR BOBBY: Jose would text me to say how much he loved English
football. Do you think he would come back come back here even if it
meant managing a team against Chelsea?

LAMPARD: I wouldn't be surprised, even though our fans regarded him as
a god and he has huge respect for the club. He loved the English game;
the Press, the passion, even being hated by other fans. Let's get it
right, every big team would want him and so would the fans who hated
him. I think he may go abroad next, but it wouldn't bother him to come
back to England if the project was right.

SIR BOBBY: I've been surprised by criticism aimed at you from England
fans. Kevin Keegan said southerners liked theatre better than
football. I wonder if there is a bit of a north-south divide going on.
Steven Gerrard is a hero because he is a working-class Liverpool lad,
while people have this other image of you and Chelsea.

LAMPARD: There might be something in that. It's something you don't
tend to say too much because it starts a debate and looks like an
excuse. But that is the modern-day thing, to have issues like the
north-south divide stirred up. If a radio phone-in asked about Gerrard
and Lampard, the show would probably run for five hours. It has become
such an issue, a bad performance from England has become Gerrard and
Lampard can't play together.

SIR BOBBY: So can you and Steven Gerrard play together?

LAMPARD: Jose thought so. He tried to sign Steven, that's well known.
He was coming.

SIR BOBBY: Stevie changed his mind at the last minute. North-south
divide probably!

LAMPARD: That was probably something to do with it. I think he was
under pressure.

SIR BOBBY: I'd pick the two of you for England. I like two central
midfielders who take turns to defend and attack. A holding midfielder
can be too static and predictable.

LAMPARD: We haven't done as well together as we could have done. I
agree with you, we can do better and work well for England. It's not
as if the jobs we're asked to do are too complicated.

SIR BOBBY: Are you concerned your place in the team might be eclipsed
by emerging younger players, such as Owen Hargreaves and Jermaine
Jenas?

LAMPARD: I'm not concerned about it if it happened, it's a challenge.
Other players can come in and put themselves in contention. You
shouldn't have it all your own way with England year after year. But I
enjoy a challenge, the idea of another player coming in and people
saying he should play. I can come back and show that I should play.
That's what I intend to do whoever plays against Switzerland.

SIR BOBBY: You've been at your peak for three or four years. Can you
maintain it for another season or two?

LAMPARD: Longer than that, without a doubt. This year has seen some of
my best individual games for Chelsea, on a par with our first title
season. It's just not been noticed as much perhaps because I've had a
couple of injuries. I'm 29 and see myself as having another four or
five years at the top. I have never relied on pace, it is about
arriving at the right time and being quick in the head. My engine has
always been good, I can run all day.

SIR BOBBY: Everyone wants to know why England have failed given the
talent of our players. Are we tactically inferior?

LAMPARD: Individually, in terms of ability, we're as good as anyone.
Go through our team, Rooney, Gerrard, John Terry, Rio, Owen. But maybe
tactically as a unit we're not as good. You can't tell me Croatia have
better individuals. But they showed over two games they were ahead of
us as a group. You have to hold your hands up and in that way we've
got things to learn. Playing in the hustle and bustle of the Premier
League is completely different to going on the international stage. It
has to be said we haven't been up to scratch on that and I'm sure the
new manager (Capello) will bring some of that know-how to us having
won trophies in Spain and Italy.

SIR BOBBY: It helped my England team that players like Lineker, Waddle
and Trevor Francis played abroad.

LAMPARD: People have mentioned Owen Hargreaves, who played for years
at Bayern Munich. If more went abroad and played in countries like
Spain, Italy and Germany, they would bring back more of that tactical
nous. It's something that might add to our game in the future. English
players haven't particularly travelled in recent years. Maybe young
English players don't want to take the risk of going abroad and
adapting to a different culture. Paul Ince said to me the best thing
he ever did was go to Inter Milan because it made him grow as a
player, and as a person. Full credit to him because he could have
carried on at Man United. But he went to Italy and put himself on the
line. I am surprised more English players haven't done that since that
time.

SIR BOBBY: What do the foreign players at Chelsea, like Drogba and
Ballack, think of us?

LAMPARD: They can't believe we haven't qualified for Euro 2008. They
know how tough our league is. Didier is probably the best all-round
striker in the world but it took a couple of years to get used to the
Premier League. Ballack said something to me I won't forget after
England called a couple of young kids into our squad. He said it
wouldn't happen in Germany. Unless an exceptional youngster comes
through, the same squad is pretty much selected for all games. They
don't make many changes in the two years of a tournament campaign.
There is more intense pressure in England to make changes but the
German way might create a togetherness we don't have. Our squad does
tend to change quite a lot, both in terms of personnel and the
formations we use. Capello might be the strong man to create a bit of
stability.

SIR BOBBY: And yet you know there will be pressure on the new manager
to make wholesale changes. Personally I don't think there is any use
sweeping away Steve McClaren's players unless you can replace them
with better.

LAMPARD: Without a doubt. We have some very good players and there is
potential for one or two to come in. But if you want to kick the old
guard out because we failed to qualify for Euro 2008, you can't point
to a lot of others who are ready or better than we've got here.

Lampard: Life at Chelsea is like a soap opera under Roman

FRANK LAMPARD: Jose texted me the night he went. I couldn't believe
it, but looking back, I can see the warning signs.

Chelsea is a soap opera and there were too many things coming out,
similar to how Liverpool is at the moment.

Football has changed and decisions can be made much more ruthlessly
than in the past.

SIR BOBBY ROBSON: People are fascinated by Roman Abramovich, mainly
because they never hear from him!


LAMPARD: I've not known a club owner like him. As soon as he took
over, we'd see him in the dressing room and at the training ground.

There was nothing better than after we won the Premier League. Me and
John Terry with Roman and his son bouncing up and down on the bus!

He was like a fan someone you could have picked up on the street with
a Chelsea cap on. After England played in Russia last year, he flew
all the London-based players back in his jet. I say jet, it was a
Boeing, massive, like an apartment.

All the Chelsea players, the Spurs players, we sat round and he put on
the biggest spread of food in your life. His English isn't great so we
don't have long conversations. But I've got this huge respect for him,
I guess you could say I'm even a little nervous when I see him around.