Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are very similar footballers, maybe less so in style, however there are some similarities, but more in terms of their respective careers.
Both players stayed at their clubs for well over a decade, were adored by their fans and were capped for England over 100 times each. So why was it that when both players decided to call an end to their playing days, for Liverpool in Gerrard’s case and Chelsea in Lampard’s case did Gerrard’s departure get the lions share of media coverage? Both were very much ‘one club men’ as they had spent all, if not the main bulk of their careers at one club and were incredibly aligned to their clubs through thick and thin.
Loyalty. Lampard ended his colourful and Chelsea-dominated career in the North West for ‘nouveau riche’ outfit Manchester City. This wasn’t in the script?! The media narrative had been ruined. He’d tainted his reputation, but for what? The media machine just couldn’t fathom it. Lampard was greedy and perfidious, losing all sense of pride for ‘the shirt’. He had been driven by that final paycheck… how unfortunate!
Gerrard, on the otherhand, was the embodiment of an angel. Loyal and faithful. Never would he betray his precious Liverpool. The media saw him as the golden boy, a man who wasn’t tempted by money but more by a sterling reputation of fidelity to his beloved ‘Reds’ side.
Speaking of sterling, Raheem Sterling was the Liverpool player who clearly didn’t bear the Reds’ ethos of allegiance and devotion to the Anfield cause. He let himself and the club down didn’t he? Why? Because he left Liverpool. A formerly successful club. “Formerly” being the key word here, as this is Sterling’s alibi for anyone pointing a finger to brandish the Jamaican-born winger a ‘snake’ or ‘judas’.
Or did the young 20-year-old realise his chances of winning silverware would be increased tenfold would he sign for the most successful English team of the last half decade? Maybe, who knows?
Fabian Delph was rumoured around a week ago to be nearing a move to Manchester City before adamantly declaring via an exclusive statement posted on the Aston Villa website that he would irrefutably be playing for The Villans next season. However in a, what the media has described as “shocking”, turn of events- Delph signed for City late yesterday afternoon.
Players want success. They want trophies. Winning a trophy encapsulates everything it is to be a footballer. It vindicates hard work and winning games of football. Ask yourself this. Would Fabian Delph win more at Manchester City or at Aston Villa? On a career level, it’s a no-brainer for the Bradford-born midfielder.
It seems to me that the old guard, the ‘proud clubs’- such as Liverpool and Villa, simply cannot come to terms with the lure City and their success has in tempting footballers to Manchester to ply their trade and win competitions. Like when Shaun Wright Philliphs left for Chelsea in 2005, City fans were obviously distraught at his departure but knew on a personal level for SWP, it was the right decision. Why can’t more clubs look at these transfers in the same light?
City are the new boys on the block, and as much as people look at City with jaundiced eyes- they’re an attractive proposition.
