Chelsea need to learn from AC Milan's mistake

It was 2-0 to Chelsea at the Stamford Bridge against Brentford in the FA cup fourth round replay when Juan Mata made a fantastic run on the left side of the pitch and cut back the ball in the penalty area  for Frank Lampard to score. It was his 13th goal of the season – 13 goals is an incredibly high return but it becomes even more significant when you consider that he has scored these playing as a midfielder and at 34 years of age. Of the 13, 11 goals have come in the league, making Lampard the first player ever in the league history to score 10 or more goals for 10 consecutive seasons; and being a midfielder makes it even more special. Lampard is now on 199 goals for Chelsea, just 4 away from becoming Chelsea’s all time top scorer and he has it all: support of the fans, support of his teammates, ability, fitness, class, respect of rivals and love for Chelsea which will surely enable him to become the all time highest scorer. But what he doesn’t have is a new contract at Chelsea, which effectively means that he will no longer be a Chelsea player at the end of the season and that he will be free to join any club, and any club also includes potential  title rivals.

This decision by the Chelsea management or more specifically Roman Abramovich to not offer him a new contract despite him being in such a good form is baffling considering that they have a very familiar example to learn from. It was just in November when a Andrea Pirlo-inspired Juventus destroyed Chelsea 3-0 in the Champions League to effectively end their title defence, and it is Pirlo who should serve as an example and even as a warning about what can the consequences be if Chelsea let Lampard leave. It was just in the summer of 2011 that AC Milan released Pirlo, paving his way to move to Juventus and how he came back to haunt Milan was for everyone to see. Pirlo very nearly carried Juventus single handedly to their 28th Serie A title at the expense of his former club who missed his creativity and experience big time. Milan maybe had strong reasons too, Pirlo was not performing that well and they needed to reduce the wage bill but Lampard’s case is very different; his form has hardly dipped and his effort and concentration remains as good as ever. He is loved and celebrated by the Chelsea faithful who just can’t thank him enough for what he has given to the club and Chelsea are one of those clubs where the wage bill is not a problem, so why has there been so much delay in giving him a new contract?

Lampard has on numerous occasions shown that he is just committed to Chelsea and in this age where players run after money, he has been reported to even agree to lower his wage, so where is the problem then? He and John Terry are the two pillars of Chelsea football club, they are two players that the other players look up to, they are the ones who provide the leadership on and off the pitch, they are the ones who keep the fire burning in the players and Chelsea have historically struggled in their absence. With Terry still not fully recovered from injury, it is Lampard who has been leading Chelsea and he has always done it with pride and honour.

Frank Lampard’s respect for Chelsea will most probably prevent him from playing for any of Chelsea’s title rivals but if he decides to move abroad it would be English football’s loss who will surely lose one of the best midfielders ever, and his loss will surely lead to more rebellion and frustration amongst the Chelsea supporters who feel that the club doesn’t respect their feelings. Roman must understand that Lampard still has plenty to offer, maybe not with appearances but with his experience and influence and he needs to take a leaf out of Manchester United‘s books on how they have successfully utilised the skills of Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs. Lampard doesn’t need to play every second of every game; he can be used as a substitute who can influence games and who can change the match in Chelsea’s favour when required. As he has shown with his fitness levels, he still has 4-5 years of football left in him and he also has a significant amount of goals left in him too. So Chelsea and Roman must learn from others’ mistakes and make sure that Chelsea’s Super Frank Lampard finishes his career at the club that he has so magnificently changed into one of the best in Europe, or else they might end up watching Lampard help another team, which understands his value, to glory.