It’s all relative: Frank Lampard stood out in a poor midfield

There was much criticism of England’s lack of creativity against USA. While Steven Gerrard’s performance was universally acclaimed, Frank Lampard received a mixed reaction. But it’s interesting when you look at the stats. Lampard recorded more passes (55) than Steven Gerrard (53), Wayne Rooney (33) or USA’s standout player Landon Donovan (39), and at a higher completion rate of 87.3%. Breaking this down further points to Lampard being a lot more involved in the game than his “creative” peers. Lampard had 4 key passes compared to Gerrard’s 1 and Rooney’s 2; and he was much busier in the final third with 19 passes at a completion rate of 84.2% than Gerrard with 16 passes at 81.25%. The Lampard-Gerrard axis in the middle of the park was highlighted once again as not working for England. But there wasn’t much of a supporting contribution from the flanks with Aaron Lennon, James Milner and Shaun Wright-Phillips combining for 0 successful crosses, 1 attempt on goal, 2 key passes, and 24 passes in the final third.