Consummate professional

WORKAHOLIC FRANK LAMPARD ENDS HIS REMARKABLE FOOTBALL JOURNEY

With rain lashing Chelsea’s training ground, Frank Lampard’s team-mates had retreated to the changeroom, but for the tireless midfielder the hard work was only just beginning.

When Lampard called time on his glittering 21-year career on Thursday, the 38-year-old was gracious and humble about his remarkable journey.

But it was notable that Lampard has no intention of sitting still and his focus has already turned to the next chapter in his football life as he prepares to move into coaching.

It was ever thus for one of England’s greatest goal-scoring midfielders, a man who rose to the top through bloody-minded determination and a relentless work ethic that ensured that, while he might not have been as naturally gifted as some of his peers, he would earn the right to compete alongside and often outshine the world’s best.

Nothing encapsulated Lampard’s commitment to honing his art more than that soggy scene at Chelsea headquarters before the 2007 FA Cup final.

By then, Lampard – son of former West Ham star Frank Senior – had already eclipsed his father’s achievements by winning the Premier League twice with Chelsea and establishing himself as an England international.

Yet even then Lampard wouldn’t allow himself to take a breather after a training session in torrential rain.

Instead, he grabbed a bag of balls, lined them up on the edge of the penalty area and proceeded to take a series of shots for more than 15 minutes.

Lampard’s club record 211 goals for Chelsea didn’t appear in the record books just by luck and this was the craftsman in his element, working on the angles and power that helped him outwit goalkeepers.

Less than 24 hours later, Lampard was voted Man-of-the-Match after providing the assist that led to Didier Drogba’s winner in the Cup final against Manchester United.

As he walked off the Wembley turf, Lampard was already reaping the rewards of Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho’s motivational skills.

Fittingly for a player renowned for making perfectly timed runs, Lampard’s timing was spot-on when he joined Chelsea for £11 million in 2001.

West Ham fans might have been enraged by what they saw as a betrayal by one of their own, Lampard having emerged from the club’s youth academy, but his move to the west London club – and fierce West Ham rivals – was essential for his development.

Even Lampard admitted many of his contemporaries at youth level were more gifted, but few could match his desire for improvement and, under Mourinho he learned the tactical discipline and mental strength required to succeed at the highest level.

Lampard was a willing student and by 2005, when his goals against Bolton earned Chelsea a first title in 50 years, he was well on the way to becoming one of the club’s all-time greats.

He won every major club honour in 13 years at Stamford Bridge, and earned 106 caps for England, before departing for Manchester City in 2014.

Lampard had immense stamina, making a staggering 164 consecutive Premier League appearances for Chelsea in more than four years.

He was a consummate professional, scoring an extra-time penalty to guide Chelsea to the Champions League final at Liverpool’s expense in 2008, six days after the death of his mother.

Arguably his finest moment came in the 2012 Champions League final when he displayed remarkable tactical prowess to drive Chelsea to victory over heavily favoured Bayern Munich in the German club’s own stadium.

It was an against-the-odds triumph that fitted the narrative of Lampard’s career to a tee. –