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.
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