Reuters Soccer Blog

Lampard and Gerrard: to play or not to play, that is the question

Both are English, both are midfielders, both are top performers in the Premier League, both can’t play together for England…. Sound familiar?

The dilemma that seems a permanent thorn in any England manager’s side has reared its ugly head once more; how do you get Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard to play well together.

England’s World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan on Saturday look set to hand Chelsea’s Lampard and Liverpool’s Gerrard yet another chance to remedy the problem, but what can Fabio Capello do differently to make it work this time?

This week Lampard finally caught up with the rest of the nation in admitting that if he and Gerrard had managed to thread a pass to one another in the Euro 2008 qualifiers, England may have reached the finals in Austria and Switzerland.

However, he says the difference this time is tactics.

It appears the tactical leadership of former England managers Sven Goran-Eriksson and Steve McClaren stretched as far as ‘when one goes, the other one stays,’ but with Capello Lampard seems more comfortable with what is being asked of him.

Liverpool must lose inferiority complex when it comes to United

If Liverpool are serious about a title challenge, and there hasn’t been much evidence to support their case yet, they should prove it by shrugging off their inferiority complex when it comes to playing Manchester United.

Long after Manchester United had usurped Liverpool as England’s top club, there was still a feeling at Anfield that they were at least equal to their chief rivals when it came to a one-off game.

When Roy Evans was in charge, and players like Jamie Redknapp and John Barnes were in the Liverpool midfield, they would try to impose their own game, even if the result would sometimes be defeat.

Since the days of Gerard Houllier, things have been different. Houllier enjoyed a good record against United but it was achieved by shifting the emphasis to watertight defence and strict tactical discipline in those games.

That has continued under Rafa Benitez and Liverpool will doubtless go into Saturday’s game at Anfield bent on denying space to United’s dangerous forwards and hoping for the best on the break or from a set-piece (while getting a European Cup-style boost from the crowd).

I argued earlier this week that England should shake off their fear of failure and they seemed to do that against Croatia. Can Liverpool do the same? Can they go out in front of their own fans and play against (a superior) United side with their old sense of belief?

I’d argue that they should do, even if they risk a hiding if United play to their potential. It’s a tactic Steven Gerrard appeared to be urging as well when he spoke this week: