Steven Gerrard vs Frank Lampard: Who was better?

"Who is the better player: Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard?” It's a question that has divided football fans for years. Both players were integral members of the English national team and had successful careers at club level.

In this article, we will compare their careers and styles of play to determine which is the better player.

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Steven Gerrard Playing Style

Gerrard emerged from the Anfield youth ranks with a reputation beyond his years. He spent the majority of his career at Liverpool, where he became a club legend. In 2009, Zinedine Zidane and Pelé considered Gerrard to be possibly the best footballer in the world. As a midfielder, Gerrard was known for his tenacious style of play. A hardworking box-to-box player with great endurance, Gerrard was usually deployed as a central midfielder, but he had also been used as a second striker, a holding midfielder, and attacking midfielder.

Gerrard's passing ability was one of his biggest strengths, with a keen eye for picking out teammates in space. He was known for his ability to find players with incisive through balls and deliver accurate crosses into the box.

In addition to his creative abilities, Gerrard was also a goal threat. He was a powerful and accurate shooter, capable of scoring from long range. At his peak, he was known for his ability to make late runs from behind into the penalty area. He was also a danger from set pieces, with a knack for delivering dangerous free kicks and corner kicks.

Despite his attacking abilities, Gerrard was also a strong defensive player. His tactical intelligence and ability to read the game allowed him to break down the opposition's attacking plays.

Frank Lampard Playing Style

Lampard, similar to Gerrard, was an all-round and versatile box-to-box player, who was capable of playing anywhere in midfield; He is widely regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever players. Lampard began his career in 1995 at West Ham United, but he is best known for his time at London rivals Chelsea, whom he signed for in 2001 for £11 million. Throughout his career he was deployed as a central midfielder, as an attacking midfielder, as a defensive midfielder, and even as a supporting striker on occasion.

A hard-working player, with notable stamina and an ability to read the game, Lampard was also capable of functioning creatively and starting attacking plays or providing assists for teammates after winning back possession, due to his technique, vision, and passing range.

In addition to his creativity, Lampard also possessed a keen eye for goal, due to his ability to get forward and make late attacking runs from behind into the penalty area, similar to Gerrard, and produce accurate and powerful shots from distance.

He was a strong and physical player who could help defensively, capable of winning tackles and battling for possession in midfield.

Lampard was a key member of the Chelsea team that won the Champions League in 2012, and he is widely regarded as one of the greatest goal scoring midfielders in the history of the game.

National Level

Individually, Lampard won 106 caps for England, scoring 29 goals, with Gerrard collecting 114 caps and scoring 21 times for his country. However when they played together, Gerard and Lampard never seemed to work well together on the pitch. 

This was particularly evident during the 2006 World Cup, where England's squad at the time were dubbed to be a Golden Generation of English players, both Lampard and Gerrard were a part of the starting lineup but failed to produce the kind of cohesive performances that were expected of them. England reached the quarterfinals in the tournament, but after extra time, lost to Portugal on penalties. Some have suggested that their similar playing styles and positions on the pitch were the reason for their lack of success together, as they tended to occupy the same space and get in each other's way. 

Others have argued that their individual abilities were not utilised effectively by the national team's manager at the time. Whatever the reason, it's clear that Gerrard and Lampard did not have the same kind of success when playing together for England as they did for their club teams.

In 2018, Lampard gave his own explanation as to why the pair never worked:

“I would have played three midfield players, I would have played Owen Hargreaves or Michael Carrick or Paul Scholes in the earlier days, because he’d already started to retreat to a deep midfield player for Manchester United.

“If myself and Steven are playing in midfield for England without anybody behind us, you had to always worry about where he was in relation to me to be able to make your natural runs.

“The worst thing in football is when you start second guessing your movement because it’s so fast, when you wait you can’t arrive.”

Who’s Better?

When comparing statistics from their Premier League careers, Lampard has the edge over Gerrard. Frank Lampard has played more games, making 609 Premier League appearances, 105 more than Gerrard. In terms of goals scored, Lampard has more, with 177 goals, an average of 0.29 goals per match, compared to Gerrard's 120 goals, with an average of 0.24 goals per match. Lampard also has more assists to his name, with 102 compared to Gerrard's 92.

When it comes to trophies won, again, Lampard has the edge. Gerrard won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005, he also won the FA Cup twice and the League Cup three times. Lampard, on the other hand, won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2012, won the Premier League three times, the FA Cup four times and the League Cup two times. Altogether, Lampard won 13 trophies, whereas Gerrard won a very respectable 9.

Both players have received their fair share of individual honours. Gerrard was named PFA Players' Player of the Year in 2006, was in the PFA Team of the Year eight times and was named FWA Footballer of the Year in 2009. Lampard won the FWA Footballer of the Year award in 2005 and was in the PFA Team of the Year three times.

Overall, both Gerrard and Lampard were world-class footballers who had successful careers. In terms of statistics, Lampard has the edge over Gerrard. Lampard has scored more goals than Gerrard, played more games than Gerrard, accumulated more assists than Gerrard, and, most importantly, won more trophies than Gerrard. In the end, statistics only tell part of the story; there are other factors to consider, such as the players they played with, the managers who coached them and the teams they faced. So determining who was better is subjective, as it ultimately comes down to personal preference.