Who Was Better: Lampard or Gerrard?

A hotly debated topic in English football over recent decades has been the ‘Lampard or Gerrard?’ one, and it’s not surprising. Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard were two of the best midfielders to play for England as well as the Premier League. The fact that they were regularly playing within the same starting XI was a joy for England fans to witness.

It’s common for one of these players to be mentioned in the same breath as the other, it might help that the second half of their surnames is ‘-ard’. They were fierce rivals in the Premier League, but close allies on the international stage.

In this detailed article, we discuss each player’s playing style, as well as conducting a head-to-head comparison of the two in terms of appearances, goals, assists and bookings. Read on to find out The Elastico’s verdict on these two midfield maestros.

Who Was Better, Lampard or Gerrard?

Frank Lampard was better than Gerrard in terms of making more appearances, scoring more goals, winning more trophies, winning the Premier League on several occasions and receiving less red cards.

Lampard’s Playing Style

Versatility

Frank Lampard was deemed an outstanding box-to-box midfielder who was deployed in many positions during his career. His managers felt like he could play pretty much anywhere in midfield, and although he spent the majority of his time playing in central midfield, he was also used in defensive midfield, attacking midfield and as a second striker.

Creativity

What set Lampard apart from the rest was his creativity. A technical player, the Englishman had elite vision on the football pitch, being able to create many goalscoring opportunities for his teammates as well as finding pockets of space for himself. These traits contributed to his impressive goalscoring record from midfield.

Goalscoring/Set Pieces

Despite his often deeper positioning, Lampard was a real threat in front of goal. His shooting power and accuracy was next to none, and he was also a threat from set pieces, taking penalties, free kicks and corners for Chelsea.

Leadership

Frank Lampard was also known for his leadership qualities on the football pitch. If it hadn’t had been for John Terry being at the club, Lampard would probably have spent a lot of his time at Chelsea being captain.

On one occasion, he did lead the blues in their 2007 Community Shield loss against Manchester United. 

Gerrard’s Playing Style

Versatility

Similarly to Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard was also known for his versatility on the football pitch. Also referred to as a box-to-box midfielder, Gerrard was also regularly deployed in other midfielder roles such as defensive midfield, attacking midfield and as a second striker. He even played at right back.

He made his name on the professional stage for being a strong ball-winner, instead of being a technically gifted playmaker, which is a clear difference between him and Lampard.

Long Distance Shooting

One of Gerrard’s main traits was being able to score from distance. Yes, it’s safe to say that the midfielder scored quite a few iconic bangers during his career. His ball-striking was elite, creating lots of power and accuracy that would regularly give goalkeepers no chance at all.

Enjoy some of his incredible Premier League strikes by watching this video from Sky Sports:

Ability to Read the Game

Another string to Gerrard’s bow was his ability to read the game. He would regularly intercept or break down opposition attacks and turn them in to counter-attacks for Liverpool and England.

Leadership and Influence

One of the main traits linked with Steven Gerrard was his leadership and influence on the pitch. He somewhat carried Liverpool for many years and in tight matches, he could produce special moments that would change the course of a game. He was also captain of the club.

Head-to-Head Comparison: Lampard and Gerrard

We’re now going to compare Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard on the following metrics – appearances, goals, assists, red cards and yellows cards. All football data collection was done by TransferMarkt.

Appearances

	Lampard Appearances	Gerrard Appearances
Club	915	749
International	106	114
Total	1021	863

When looking at club and international appearances, Lampard played 158 more matches than Gerrard during his career. Lampard even reached the 1000 game landmark, an incredible feat for any professional footballer.

Although he played many more matches than Gerrard, he actually played 8 fewer games at international level than him. As it stands, Steven Gerrard is the fourth highest capped player for England behind Peter Shilton, Wayne Rooney and David Beckham.

Goals

	Lampard Goals	Gerrard Goals
Club	268	191
International	29	21
Total	297	212

When comparing the number of goals scored between Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, Lampard also comes out on top. He scored more goals than Gerrard at both club and international level, and there is no penalty bias in this data, as both players took penalties for their respective clubs.

It’s worth noting that Frank Lampard is the most accomplished scoring midfielder to have ever played in the Premier League. He’s currently the only player in the history of the competition to have tallied more than 100 goals and 100 assists.

Lampard scored 77 more goals at club level and 8 more goals than Gerrard on the international stage.

Assists

	Lampard Assists	Gerrard Assists
Club	171	169
International	12	23
Total	183	192

In terms of assists, Gerrard has recorded more than Lampard during their careers. At club level, Lampard actually comes out on top with 2 more assists than Gerrard, however the Liverpool captain has recorded 11 more than Lampard whilst playing in an England shirt.

In total, Steven Gerrard has 9 more assists to his name in comparison to Frank Lampard.

Red Cards

	Lampard Red Cards	Lampard 2nd Yellow Cards	Gerrard Red Cards	Gerrard 2nd Yellow Cards
Club	2	2	4	3
International	0	0	0	1
Total	2	2	4	4

Now let’s look at how many red cards the English midfielders have received on a football pitch. In terms of straight red cards, Lampard has received 2 at club level and none in an England shirt, and Gerrard has received 4 red cards for Liverpool and also none for England.

When we look at second yellow card offences, a similar story plays out. Frank Lampard received a second yellow card on two occasions whilst playing for Chelsea, meanwhile Steven Gerrard received 3 at club level and 1 for England. This means that out of the pair of them, Gerrard is the only player to have been sent off whilst playing for his country.

To summarise, Steven Gerrard has been dismissed 8 times in total, 7 for his club and 1 for his country which is double the amount of dismissals that Frank Lampard has recorded, with 4 in total.

Yellow Cards

	Lampard Yellow Cards	Gerrard Yellow Cards
Club	90	82
International	5	10
Total	95	92

The two midfielders are equally poised with regard to yellow card offences, with only 3 yellow cards separating them. Lampard has received a yellow card on 95 occasions, with Gerrard receiving 92 cautions. It’s worth remembering that Lampard played a considerable number of matches more than Gerrard, which is testament to his behaviour on the pitch.

How Many Trophies Did Lampard and Gerrard Win?

Frank Lampard Achievements

During his career, Frank Lampard won 14 trophies – 13 domestic honours and one on the international stage:

• Champions League (Chelsea) – 2011/12
• Premier League (Chelsea) – 2005, 2006 & 2010
• Europa League (Chelsea) – 2012/13
• FA Cup (Chelsea) – 2007, 2009, 2010 & 2012
• League Cup (Chelsea) – 2005 & 2007
• English Super Cup (Chelsea) – 2005 & 2009
• Footballer of the Year (England) – 2005

Steven Gerrard Achievements

During his career, Steven Gerrard won 13 trophies – 12 domestic honours and one on the international stage:

• Champions League (Liverpool) – 2004/05
• UEFA Supercup (Liverpool) – 2001/02 & 2005/06
• UEFA Cup (Liverpool) – 2000/2001
• UEFA Best Player in Europe (Liverpool) – 2005
• FA Cup (Liverpool) – 2001 & 2006
• League Cup (Liverpool) – 2001, 2003 & 2012
• English Super Cup (Liverpool) – 2002 & 2007
• Footballer of the Year (England) – 2009

Lampard and Gerrard Achievements Comparison

Although Lampard and Gerrard seem relatively equal on achievements, having both won the Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup, English Super Cup and Football of the Year, Lampard comes out on top.

This is because the midfielder has won the Premier League title on three separate occasions with Chelsea, and Gerrard failed to win the title once with Liverpool. Winning the domestic title is deemed one of the ultimate honours in football, and Gerrard came close to winning it in the 2013/14 season, but his famous slip against Chelsea ultimately cost them the title.

Liverpool came 2nd in the league that season, falling 2 points behind Manchester City.

Conclusion

Both Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard are renowned for being flexible midfielders with keen eyes for goal and exemplary leadership qualities, so it’s not surprising that the ‘Lampard or Gerrard?’ debate is often discussed among football enthusiasts.

When looking at the analysis, Frank Lampard quite clearly comes out on top, with more appearances, goals and trophies as well as fewer red and yellow cards, not without mentioning that he won the Premier League on several occasions.

The main argument against this is that Lampard played within an extremely talented group of players at Chelsea for many years, a luxury that Steven Gerrard didn’t have throughout his career.

With the two players being so similar in many ways, it’s easy to see why fans can look at this debate from either side, however for us at The Elastico, Frank Lampard was the better player, although we’ve really enjoyed some of Gerrard’s goals over the years.

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