Former Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has attempted to solve the debate as to who is better out of Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes and Steven Gerrard.
Wayne Rooney will go down as one of the greatest English forwards ever seen and may well be, alongside Alan Shearer and Harry Kane, the best ever seen in the Premier League’s illustrious history.
Rooney had been out of managerial work after losing his job at DC United but the former Everton forward has found his way back into management at EFL Championship side Plymouth Argyle.
During his playing career, Rooney had the pleasure of playing in front of some of the best English midfielders to ever grace the game.
Rooney attempts to settle big debate
Speaking to another former United player in Gary Neville, Rooney was asked about the three iconic English midfielders and believes he knows who the best of the bunch is.
“Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are all different,” Rooney said on The Overlap. “As an all-rounder, Stevie is the best; he can defend, pass the ball, run, tackle, score goals, set pieces. As an all-rounder he’s the best from that point of view.
“From a goalscoring point of view, Lamps [Frank Lampard] was the best. The goals he scored were incredible from midfield and technically he wasn’t at Stevie or Scholesy’s level but there was no-one better at scoring goals from midfield.
“Scholesy, the way he adapted [made him amazing]. He was a striker when he was younger so to go to a ten, then midfield then a deeper midfielder dictating the game, I don’t think either of the other two [Gerrard or Lampard] could dictate a game the way he could.
“All were world-class players. Stevie could come to Manchester United and be a top player and do what Scholes could do. But I don’t think Scholes could do what Stevie did at Liverpool.”
Gerrard and Scholes
Rooney’s final comment about Steven Gerrard being able to come to United and be a top player but Paul Scholes couldn’t go to Anfield and do what he did, may well be a very good way to look at comparisons between the pair and Frank Lampard.
During his pomp, Gerrard would single handedly carry that Liverpool side, which was a very poor team compared to United’s, up the table.
The European Cup triumph of 2005 is perhaps the best example as to how good the Englishman was for Liverpool and he almost won that famous trophy for the Reds on his own, at times.
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