Why Replacing Lampard with Cesc Makes Sense

While Frank Lampard has been the heart of Chelsea's midfield for a number of years, he is finally moving away from Stamford Bridge, probably to America to take up a new challenge, and I believe now is the perfect time for him to do so.

Why? Many Chelsea fans will strongly disagree with me on this point and were far from happy when the news came out that Frank was leaving Chelsea. However, I feel that this season, Lampard has struggled. Lampard made 26 appearances for Chelsea last season, a very decent amount for someone who is 36 years of age, however, when you compare this to his peak years when it was very rare for Lampard to miss a game, it is not many, especially when many of these appearances have been from the bench. Lampard also only managed six goals this year, again not bad considering fewer appearances and his change of role to a deeper position. However, in his peak Lampard was scoring 20 plus goals per season. With Manchester City having Yaya, Liverpool having Gerrard, Arsenal having Ozil and Ramsey, Chelsea need a midfielder who is going to score goals to keep up with the rest of the top four, unfortunately Lampard could not fill that role any more.

When Frank was only given a one year contract to remain at Chelsea last season, it was always likely that he would be leaving this summer. While he could continue this season, he would become a passenger to the team, other players would have to be doing two jobs to make up for his lack of pace, and his goal scoring threat in the Premier League is diminishing. Surely it is better for a Chelsea legend to leave before he gets to this stage so that there are no memories of Lampard being the slow lump in midfield, being carried by his Chelsea team mates to prolong his time with them? Look at Rio Ferdinand at Utd, he has stayed on a season too long and is now not seen to be as much of a legend as he would have been had he left before he became too slow and unable to play to the level Manchester United expect.

With Lampard going, it was essential that Chelsea did find a replacement this summer. There is no point in Frank leaving if no one is here to fill his boots. In Cesc Fabregas, I feel Chelsea have found the perfect replacement. Cesc has wonderful ball control as seen by some of his goals for Barcelona and Spain where he has been able to manoeuvre himself out of tight positions and away from defenders. One of Lampards best features was his ability to pick out players with his passing, and Fabregas has shown at Barcelona that his long and short passing is superb, and Barcelona is certainly not a bad place to learn and show his passing trade. Most importantly however, Cesc scores goals.

For Arsenal in the 2009/10 season, Fabregas scored twenty goals, remarkable for a midfielder, and something that Frank Lampard used to do. This was when Fabregas was only 22, now at 27 he is likely to be hitting his peak and I fully expect him to score at least ten goals this season followed by a season of at least 15 but possibly reaching the twenty mark. The brilliant thing about Fabregas is that playing for Arsenal, he has vast experience in the Premier League and so it should not take him too long to adapt back after playing in the La Liga for a few years.

Mourinho knows what he is doing and would not have taken the decision lightly to move on his great player and friend Frank Lampard. Mourinho will get the very best out of Fabregas who, when partnering Matic in the centre, could get Chelsea back to having the best midfield in the Premier League again. Oscar has long been seen as the ideal replacement for Lampard when he leaves, however, he really struggled in the second half of last season and has shown so far at this world cup that he plays at his best while out on the right wing, therefore it was essential for Chelsea to buy Fabregas to fill the void left by Lampard in the centre.

Chelsea fans need to remember Lampard for the player that he used to be, but also, not forget that he is no longer that great player, it is for the good of the team that Chelsea do now have a better option in midfield. Yes, it is true that Chelsea will miss Lampards presence in the dressing room, he surely had a big personality and great leadership qualities, his experience will help his next team to no end. However, in my opinion, while it may be difficult to hear, Fabregas's quality outweighs Franks experience at this point in time.

Miami Heat: England 2-2 Ecuador

The temperature in Miami didn't rise to the levels that Roy Hodgson and his team would have wanted it to in order to test his players, however the game did not disappoint and was about as entertaining as you could expect from a pre season friendly. A draw with Ecuador means that England have lost their 100% record over the South American club. Surprisingly, England have only ever played Ecuador once officially, a game which England won 1-0, Beckham's free kick his last ever goal for his country, and in fact, England's last win in a knockout stage of a major competition (hopefully not ever).

The England line up was experimental, it is a guarantee that the starting eleven tonight will never be used in a world cup game. Wayne Rooney was placed on the left of the attack, making way for Ross Barkley to gain his first international start along with Luke Shaw. It is clear that English "soccer" does not bring much excitement to American's as the stadium was only quarter full with empty seats a plenty.

England's first big test of the day came before the game had even kicked off. Lining up in red it was time for the England national anthem. Did Oxlade Chamberlain belt it out as loud as he could? Did James Milner open his mouth? Can Wayne Rooney even read? No, no and probably not. Hodgson had made it clear that he wants his players to sing the anthem loud and proud, however, today they were unsuccessful.

England started the game on the attack, a seemingly different mentality to the game against Peru in which they were not quick to get forward. Frank Lampard had a glorious opportunity to show Chelsea fans what they would be missing next season. Rikki Lambert slotted the ball in to the path of the onrushing Lampard after some good work by Chamberlain. However Lampard scuffed the shot sending the ball a long way wide.

It has been suggested these two would do a
better job than Jones and Smalling. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly for England fans, Ecuador took the lead after a string of England attacks. A Enner Valencia header, who bears no relation to Antonio was smashed in to the English net after he had got away from the centre back partnership of Chris Smalling and Phil Jones, neither of whom could do anything other than stand there looking confused.

Despite going behind, England did not look like they had lost hope unlike many England fans had on twitter, although how some people are only just realising England won't win the world cup is beyond me…

Rooney was delighted with his tap in

It was not long before England were level. A lively Chamberlain, or as people like to call him 'The Ox', whipped a ball in to the area from the right hand side. New Liverpool signing chest (handled) the ball before attempting a back heel in to the goal. However the ball rebounded off the post and before Lambert could tap in the rebound, Rooney was on it like a kid in a playground who was desperate to score a goal and kicked it in before celebrating as though he had scored a goal actually at the World Cup and not a tap in against Ecuador. Still, there is nothing wrong with passion.

Despite being placed on the left wing, it was clear that Rooney was not playing in that position. The United striker was constantly coming inside and playing almost alongside Rikki Lambert up front which did not do too much good for the shape of the England side, however this is not Rooney's fault, the man is not a winger.

Half time came about and England would have mixed feelings about how they had played. Having been on top for pretty much the whole half it was surprising that it was England who had to come from behind. Although not that surprising, this is England.

The second half also started with a good tempo, however this time the attacking threat was coming from both sides. The Ox provided the danger for England, while Antonio Valencia was whipping in some good balls at the other end. One particular stand out was Phil Jones producing a Terry style salmon dive in order to head the ball away, good effort, but a bit of a copy.

Two individual moments of class put England ahead in the 52nd minute. Ross Barkley charged forward, nutmegging an Ecuadorian. Everyone was waiting for a finish similar to his goal against Newcastle and it looked as though he was shaping up to hit it that way, however he laid the ball off to Rikki Lambert who struck the ball first time with the outside of his boot fizzing the ball in to the bottom corner from a reasonably tight angle. £4million? Bargain.

Despite being in front, there was bad news for England as Roy Hodgson's nightmares were met. Alex Oxlaide Chamberlain went down injured after winning the ball back for England. It is thought that he may have ligament damage meaning he would miss the World Cup, now how will we win it!? To make matters even worse, the referee gave Ecuador a free kick for the challenge. The Ox will have a scan on Thursday to assess the full extent of the damage.

Things were getting worse and worse for England as what can only be described as tactical genius from the Ecuador manager, saw Arroyo score a terrific goal just moments after coming on. Despite Clive Tyldesley's claims that England gave the man far too much space, in truth James Milner didn't give him that much room for manoeuvre, however, the Ecuadorian did not need much room, nudging the ball an inch to the right before shushing the ball past the helpless Ben Foster to level the score once again. When Paul Scholes said England should play like Liverpool, I am not sure he quite meant defensively as well.

The goal seemed to give Ecuador a boost. Antonio Valencia was the constant target on the right to try and get balls in to the England box. On one of this occasions Raheem Sterling flew in with a challenge, going straight over the ball but not really catching Valencia. A challenge probably worth a yellow card. However, Valencia took huge offence to the challenge, getting straight up and grabbing Sterling by the back of his neck. The referee seemed to deliberate for a bit before very proudly lifting two red cards in to the air, sending the Liverpool and United rivals for an early shower. But don't worry you Ecuadorian fans, Valencia will not be suspended for the world cup. And unfortunately England fans, neither will Sterling.

Full time and the score was 2-2. The game will have taught England a few lessons. The main one being that James Milner is not a very good right back. He is only marginally better than Glen Johnson, without being too harsh on Milner. Wayne Rooney got his goal, Lambert, Barkley and Chamberlain played blinders. Let's just hope that The Ox is not as injured as Hodgson fears, as I don't think Ben Foster is a good enough back up keeper.

COME ON ENGLAND!