Lampard returns fire on fans

June 4, 2007

Is the England midfielder's plea for patience fair or have the supporters suffered enough? Give us your thoughts in the form below

Matt Hughes

Frank Lampard has hit back at his detractors before the crucial European Championship qualifying tie against Estonia in Tallinn on Wednesday and accused England fans of being too fickle in their support of the national team. The Chelsea midfield player was booed before the kick-off and after his substitution during the 1-1 draw with Brazil on Friday, an unexpected outpouring of abuse that appeared to contribute to his subdued performance.

Peter Crouch and Owen Hargreaves have been targeted by England followers in the recent past and Lampard reluctantly accepts that such treatment is the flipside to the honour of representing his country.

“It’s part of playing for England I suppose, but a year ago I won their player-of-the-year award two times on the spin,” he said. “That’s how English football is. I remember when people wanted David Beckham out of the team and he got a hero’s welcome [at Wembley] because he’s a great player and keeps working hard.

“That’s what happens in football. It’s not helpful to the team and the players. It’s a bit upsetting and you have to be big enough to take that – I know from the World Cup, where I didn’t score when people expected me to. So I’m fighting to get back in there, knocking the goals in again. Friday wasn’t the day for me to do that personally, but hopefully there will be those games in the future.”

Lampard, 28, was first singled out for criticism after a disappointing World Cup in Germany last summer, although the breaking point in his relationship with supporters appeared to come when he tried to fly home after being left out of Steve McClaren’s side to play Andorra in March.

He was subjected to personal abuse from the stands at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona and the vitriolic nature of the fans’ comments that night led to several fellow nonplaying members of the squad retreating to the dressing-room because of fears for their safety.

Lampard accepts that England have a job on their hands to regain the country’s backing after a poor start to their qualifying campaign, but has called for patience from those travelling to Estonia. It may be a source of some relief that, in contrast to Barcelona, the 10,300-seat Le Coq Arena will accommodate a little more that 1,000 visiting supporters.

“We all have to win the fans back,” Lampard said. “Against Andorra they showed their frustration and you’d have to be a fool not to recognise that, but for us it was a case of just playing as we know we can. We train very hard and play some fantastic football, but it hasn’t translated on to the pitch. When we do that, the fans will be pleased.

“Estonia are a better team than Andorra, make no mistake about that. It’s going to be a tough game. The only thing that matters is winning. We want to do it well, we want to go one up after ten minutes, but it might not be like that. If we show the passion and desire we showed against Brazil, we can win the game.”

Lampard will keep his place alongside Steven Gerrard in central midfield, although McClaren is considering other changes for a match that England have to win to maintain realistic hopes of qualification. Wayne Bridge is making good progress in his recovery from a hip injury to put pressure on Nicky Shorey at left back, while Crouch could be recalled in place of Alan Smith up front.

The pressure on McClaren has intensified after Saturday’s results in group E, with Croatia, Israel and Russia winning to leave England trailing in fourth place. Croatia remained top courtesy of a 1-0 victory in Tallinn, which extended Estonia’s wretched qualification record to six defeats in which they have failed to score a goal. England must take advantage.