Frank Lampard on... England v Germany

Hi! Frank here, welcome to my latest blog!

It might seem odd to people watching but, as a player, one minute you can be getting stuck in against an opponent in the Premiership and the next he's your international team-mate.

But that's just the way it goes in football and there's never any hard feelings. In fact, I'm really looking forward to the build-up to the Germany game - it's always good to see all the England guys.

Obviously I'm used to the club mentality at Chelsea but that type of approach has brushed off on England a bit - it's more club-like in terms of the camaraderie than it's ever been before.

I genuinely get on with everyone in the England set-up - they're a cracking bunch of lads and Steve McClaren ensures a good atmosphere throughout training.

Obviously I look forward to seeing the likes of Rio Ferdinand as he's still a close pal and we go way back from our West Ham days. He's one of the real characters in the squad but sometimes it's wise to avoid him and Wayne Rooney. They're the real mickey takers of the squad - a bit of a double act. You basically don't want to mess up in front of them or else you'll never hear the end of it.

Rio even tried to catch me out on one of his TV wind-ups. He'd got my girlfriend Elen in on it and the plan was for me to be shown up in a restaurant. She'd agreed to go along with it no problem and some guy was going to give me hassle but, thankfully for me, the restaurant wouldn't let them in and I escaped ok. Knowing Rio, though, there'll be other wind-ups. He's a good laugh.

Going back to England and Wednesday's game, pulling on an England shirt is the greatest honour there is for me as a player. It's a truly unbelievable feeling.

Added to that, it gives me the chance to play at Wembley again. I've already done that twice and it's a truly awesome stadium - there's few places to match it in the world right now.

The match might only be a friendly but it's all about getting us ready for the next Euro qualifiers. There's a lot of confidence in the England camp and we all still genuinely believe we'll making it through to the European Championships.

Steve's very thorough and he's pushed us hard in training, which is a good thing. I'm a big admirer of Steve, as I was of Sven, and the spirit right now is as good as I've ever known it. That's important when it comes to the crunch Euro qualifiers.

To get through and qualify for the tournament in Austria and Switzerland, we know what's needed. We know what we need to do and we need to be mentally strong as individuals and as a team. But I think we've got what it takes.

Frank

Frank Lampard on the ones to watch

Hello and welcome to my latest blog as the new season is up and running.

Every time I've opened the papers or put on Sky Sports news this summer, it's been about another top player coming to the Premiership. And there's been some amazing signings.

Obviously, I like the look of the guys we've signed - a lot of them might have come on free transfers but that doesn't make them any less impressive than other signings, just better value.

But people have asked me a lot who I'm most excited about playing against next season, and the one I want to watch most of all is Fernando Torres.

I've only played against him once before - for England in the friendly against Spain in February. And for me, he's the complete striker. His movement is incredible, he reads the game so well and his speed and finishing are all spot on. He's a truly world-class player but that doesn't necessarily mean he's a Premiership player and it'll be interesting to see how he adapts.

He's a top player who seems to be able to do everything and I personally love playing against those sort of guys week in, week out in the Premiership.

Then there's the guys Man Utd have signed. I've been really impressed by Nani and Anderson, although I'm not sure we'll see loads of them this season - they're ones for the future. Then of course there's Carlos Tevez. He's a different player to Torres, more Rooney-like and that obviously makes Man Utd a potent threat.

There's also been some good English players moving around in the summer. The biggest move has to be Darren Bent and people think that £16m is a big fee for an English player but I'm not so sure.

If he repeats the performances he put in week in, week out that he did for Charlton, he's going to easily repay Martin Jol's faith and people want be complaining about the money paid for him.

I could go on about other new players but I'm also interested by the managerial changes over the summer and I'm really pleased to see Sven-Goran Eriksson back at the top of the game.

I haven't got a bad word to say about Sven - he was very good to me and good for England, and he deserves another chance at club management. I think he'll do well for Manchester City.

In terms of the players he's signed, I've got to be honest - I've not really heard of a lot of them but that's not bad thing. Sven's showed at the various clubs he's managed he's good at bringing players through and he's got a great knowledge of players across Europe.

Some people have criticised him for not buying English players but that's not his fault. There was a shortage of them by the time he entered the transfer market.

Anyway, it'll be good to see him and come face to face with even more world-class footballers this season. It's what the Premiership's all about.

Ready for new season

Hello, it's Frank again

The clock's ticking to the start of the Premiership and I'm really looking forward to it. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my holidays and really needed a break but it's left me feeling more ready for a season than ever before.

Basically we at Chelsea want our league back. Manchester United took it from us last season and rightly so, so all credit to them. But from the very outset, that's the main thing for me. The Premiership's where I started and, don't get me wrong, I love the Champions League and would love to win it but it's the league title first and foremost.

Everyone's been chatting about Manchester United and all their signings. I don't know a lot about Nani and Anderson but they seem to be good players, and I know Carlos Tevez is a handful - we saw that for ourselves twice last season when we played West Ham.

But everyone's looking at us wondering why we've not spent big in the summer. I don't think we needed to and I don't look at Man Utd's signings and worry about the quality of them. In fact, I relish the challenge and think we've added to our squad really well.

Florent Malouda's stood out both in training and in the Community Shield. It was a cracking goal, he's technically very good and fast, and showed he's got a good strike on him. I've been really impressed by him.

Then there's Steve Sidwell, who we got on a free from Reading. He's a very different player but has made just as much of an impact. I love players with a strong fighting spirit - he's definitely got that and he's got this great English mentality which Chelsea will certainly benefit from. He's not afraid to get stuck in - we saw that against Reading last season and he's the sort of hard-working player I really like.

It's probably wrong of me to single out just those guys as all the new signings have made a real mark already. Chelsea's a real family club from top to bottom, and all the guys have slotted in like they've been there for a couple of seasons.

Obviously there'll be no Arjen Robben and that's a shame - he's a quality player and a really good friend of mine. But the move was right for him and this stuff goes on in football all the time. It would have been great if he'd stayed but sadly it wasn't to be.

Going back to the imminent start of the season, my goal is to win everything. That's not to say we're going to go out there and win the quadruple - no team has ever done that and no one can go out making those sort of statements. It's just that's the mentality at the Bridge - we just want to win everything every time.

There's been a lot of talk about us playing more attractive football and that's what we want but the manager's blueprint, quite rightly, is to win. We really like to pass the ball around the park and we want to go out there playing attractive football but that's not always possible. Sometimtes you really need to fight for those wins and, with the injuries we have, we might have to do that from the start of the season.

I'm not that worried about the injuries. The big guys like John Terry and Didier Drogba aren't out for a long time and anyway we've got plenty of cover and we have to be confident we can cope without the injured players.

Everyone in the club's got the desire and everyone has got the message that it's all about winning the league. I only have to think back to our previous Premiership title wins to realise how much it means. It's for those sort of moments that you train so hard all year round.

I've read in the papers Jose Mourinho saying he's mellowed but he's always been a pretty mellow guy to me. Whenever I've had one on ones with him, he's already very calm, as he is in training. The only time he every gets particularly excitable is, say, at half-time when we're not playing our best.

But I don't expect him to be much different this season. He's got the same aims as everyone - to win everything, and that starts on Saturday.

Frank Lampard on...Frank TV

Hello, it’s Frank again.

I’m back from my summer holiday and I’m really looking forward to the new season. While I’ve been away I’ve been filming for my new mobile tv show, Frank tv, which we're launching today on Orange World.

You can get a sneak preview below, or if you can get mobile TV on your phone visit the sport page on Orange World and download it for free. Here's the preview:

Thanks for all your posts over the summer, keep them coming

Frank

Frank Lampard on... the title race

Hi! It's Frank again, welcome to my latest blog.

It's crunch time in the Premiership and I can safely say this has been our toughest season so far. We had it easy to a certain extent in the last two seasons because we've won the league convincingly.

At the start of the season, the Premiership's always our no.1 priority as that's our bread and butter, week-in, week-out and Europe and everything else follows on from there.

This year’s thrown up many more issues, Man Utd have improved, we can all see that. We’ve had injury problems which have made it difficult for us, especially over the Christmas period, where we dropped points so we’ve been chasing, which is a new thing for us.

It’s interesting as well though, we’re still there, enjoying the fight and the different pressures.

Man Utd’s team has definitely matured this season and Cristiano Ronaldo has been outstanding for them – probably the stand-out player this year. I voted for him in the PFA awards, but only because I couldn’t vote for Didier Drogba! Paul Scholes has also been back fit and playing very well.

They’re a huge club that will always be there or thereabouts and they’ve had a couple of years where they’ve dipped but they’ve come back and upped their game.

I hope you'll be keeping your fingers crossed for us!

'Til next time.

Frank

Frank Lampard on... Liverpool v Chelsea

Hi, it's Frank again!

I hope everyone who logged on enjoyed my live WAP chat last week. For me, it's been back down to the serious business of preparing for the Champions League semi-final second leg against Liverpool.

We're happy with the 1-0 result from the first leg at Stamford Bridge and keeping a clean sheet at home. Obviously, we're disappointed not to have won the game by scoring more goals. We played well and created enought chances to have scored two or three, but we're happy with the lead.

The second leg at Anfield tonight's obviously a massive game and i think, quite rightly, both teams believe they can win it. We feel we can go there and score goals and do whatever we have to do and Liverpool will feel they can turn it around with home advantage. It certainly bodes well for a great game and quite an atmosphere!

Everyone's been talking about the three English teams still in the competition and my opinion is that it's no surprise as the Premiership's up there with the best and the top four teams could win against the top four from any country in the world. The Premiership attracts the best players from all over Europe and we have some fantastic homegrown players as well.

Thanks for reading and I'll be back with more updates soon.

Frank

Join my live chat!

Hello it's Frank again,

Just a short entry this time to say thanks very much to everyone who logged on to my live WAP chat.

It was great to hear all your questions and I hope all those whose questions I answered enjoyed it as much as I did.

You can read the full transcript of the chat here>>

Thanks again for reading and I'll be back with more updates soon.

'Til next time

Frank

Frank Lampard on Man Utd clash

Hello it's Frank again!

Here's another video clip looking ahead to the clash with Manchester United. It looks like that match could decide the title!

Enjoy the clip!

Frank Lampard: Training tips

Hello, it's Frank again!

I thought you might like a change from all that reading and watch a video clip. It features some tips I've picked up throughout my career on how to get the best out of your training sessions.

Enjoy it and check back here in the weeks to come for an update on my blog!

Frank Lampard: Orange Competition

Hello and welcome to my latest blog!

It's Euro 2008 qualifying once more this week. The games against Israel and Andorra are huge and we have to go with the intention of winning both.

I wouldn't want to go into either game thinking about losing points or being happy with a draw. I don't know if six points is a must as there's still a long way to go in the group. But we're in a position where we need points on the board sooner rather than later.

Israel will be a very tough game. They are very good at home and our last away game against Croatia wasn't a good performance - we deserved to get beat. We haven't played to our potential so far in qualifying that's obvious. We need to go there and win.

Ahead of these crunch Euro 2008 games I've got five signed footballs to give away. All you need to do to enter is answer the following simple question:

Who are England's opponents in the forthcoming European Championship qualifying double header?

Send your answer to the sporteditor@orange-ftgroup.com. The competition ends at 5pm on Friday, 23rd March, 2007.

Be sure to read the competition's Terms and conditions.

Frank Lampard: Off the field fun

Hello and welcome to my latest blog.

Though the number of matches we play has increased a lot over the years, there's still quite a lot of spare time for footballers to fill.

Being a parent, though, has certainly changed my priorities. It makes you less selfish. I used to come home from training, flick the telly on and do my own thing. Now I'm really excited to come home from training to see my child Luna. I love being with her, she makes me laugh. My priority has completely moved to her and my girlfriend.

Lots of footballers spend loads of time playing computer games. I don't play much, though. There's one game I play with the lads on the PSP - SOCOM. We're all linked up and we play against each other in groups - me, Shaun Wright-Phillips, John Terry and Khalid Boulharouz against Wayne Bridge, Ashley Cole, Arjen Robben and Didier Drogba. Our team is by far the best!

We play it every moment in our spare time on away trips, it kills a lot of time and there's a lot of banter between teams when you beat them. I can't play football games on computers - they do nothing for me. I don't even know what I'm like as a player on these games. It's just not my thing.

As for music, I'm listening to a lot of Razorlight at the moment - other than that it's a mixture. Pre-game it's like an R&B mixture that a lot of the lads listen to in the dressing room.

I'll be back soon with another instalment of my blog.

Frank

Frank Lampard: FA Cup is the one I want

Hello and welcome to my latest blog.

After beating Porto in the Champions League on Tuesday our focus moves to the FA Cup this weekend.

An FA Cup medal is the one I've always wanted to win. Of course I want to win everything, but the history of the FA Cup makes it huge for me.

My Dad won it twice and FA Cup final day - the build-up and the game - was a national event in our home when I was younger.

It is something that is lacking from my medal collection and that makes me more determined to win it.

Drawing Tottenham in the quarter-final is a tough game. At least it's at home which is always a bonus. Obviously it has the added spark of being a derby too.

Spurs are in very good form at the moment and it should be a good game. We're not our to avenge the league defeat or anything like that - games like that do happen.

We were on a very good run at the time and we'd had superiority over them for years in the league, so I suppose eventually you are always going to come a cropper.

It's important to treat the game as a one-off and just concentrate on getting through to the semis.

Dimitar Berbatov has really impressed me this season - he was definitely one of the best signings of the summer.

I didn't know much about him beforehand but he's a very skilful and clever player.

Robbie Keane may be suspended but whether it's him, Defoe or Mido alongside Berbatov that's where their strength lies.

Being at home we'll try to attack their defence. They've got some good defenders, but who wouldn't miss Ledley King?

They're a fine team though and we will have to be careful on the break because of their forwards and Aaron Lennon's sheer pace and skill.

Join me again soon for another instalment of my blog.

Frank

Going for the clean sweep

Hello and welcome to my latest blog.

So, one trophy in the bag already for Chelsea - and still three to play for. I think we've got possibilities of winning them all. That's how we've got to look at it after our Carling Cup win in Cardiff.

We've had some hard times in the Premiership this season, especially over Christmas. Important players were missing with injuries but they're coming back to fitness and I think the team's playing better now than we were a month or so ago.

Manchester United are catchable at the top of the league. They've still got to come to Stamford Bridge in April, so I think it's well within our reach to close the gap and overhaul them come May 13th.

We've both got tough games before then, but I think the important thing is that we go on a run now of five or six straight wins. And yes, we are hoping that ManU drop points. But we have to keep pushing.

And then there's the Champions League. People often ask me what I'd pick if I had to choose between winning the Champions League with Chelsea or the World Cup with England.

It's a tough question. To win a World Cup with England is something very special. Representing your country is the ultimate for a player.

At the same time, to win the Champions League with your team would be massive too, especially because it's something that we haven't won at Chelsea. That's why it's so hard to pick between the two.

Another question that people ask is what's the meaning behind my goal celebration where I kiss the ring on my finger and point to the sky.

I point to the sky for my little girl, Luna. Her name in Spanish means 'moon'. So that started when she was born, obviously. Kissing the ring on my finger is for my girlfriend. So it's all very family-based. Let's hope there are plenty of celebrations to come.

Join me again soon for more blog updates.

Frank

Ashes disappointment

Hello and welcome to my latest blog.

I spoke before the Ashes about my hopes for the lads out in Australia. That seems like a long time ago now and obviously, like all England fans, I was disappointed that we didn’t get anywhere near keeping the urn.

I know Andrew Flintoff quite well and I feel bad for him and the lads because I know they went out there with the intention to win it, just as we went out to Germany last summer with the intention of winning the World Cup.

Sometimes things don’t go that way, but I know the lads gave it their all but it hasn’t gone right for them.

I love my cricket and the next big event – after the current one-day tournament - is the cricket World Cup.

So do we have a chance? I think it’s going to be very tough because our form isn’t brilliant at the moment. Australia are playing fantastically, and then you’ve got teams like India, Pakistan and South Africa who will all be hard to beat.

We’re certainly not one of the favourites but as an England supporter you have to hope that we put up a good show.

As for my own chances with England, I hope to start against Spain this week. Even though it’s been a while since the last match, Steve McClaren has stayed in contact with his players.

You obviously don’t find out whether you’re playing – but he keeps in touch in between international weeks. He came to our training ground about two weeks ago to meet all the England lads that are at Chelsea and we had a good chat.

So, I hope I’m going to start - I feel like I’m playing well at the moment and my form’s good. It’s a great honour to represent your country – the ultimate for a player – and I’m really looking forward to the game.

Join me again soon for more blog updates

All the best

Frank

Feeling superstitious

When you’re on a good run of form, like I seem to be at the moment (touch wood!), you start thinking more about matchday superstitions and whether they’re having an effect.

I have lots of little superstitions which change depending on my form. I will throw away a pair of boots after a particularly bad game and I always put my right boot on first and my right pad on first.

I also go through stages of listening to the same music on the way into games and I’ll use the same route to go upstairs to eat before a game. It’s quite a lot to remember!

John Terry’s probably got it worse than me though. For example, he’ll only wee in one urinal in the dressing room toilets at Stamford Bridge. If you’re at that one, he’ll queue behind you even though there are others free…

I suppose it just shows how well he wants to do well. These things can make all the difference in your mind.

'Til next time.

Frank

Frank Lampard on... Christmas

Happy Christmas, and welcome to my latest posting on the Orange sport blog.

As you know, the Christmas period is one of the busiest times of the year for professional footballers. It’s not an easy time for players, with four games in just over a week, but I’ve never known anything different.

Making sacrifices

It affects you in that you can’t always eat what you want or drink what you want, you have to train on Christmas day and maybe stay in a hotel on Christmas night.

It’s one of the down sides of being a footballer, but there’s too many up sides to worry too much. I’ll be 35 years old soon and out of football, and can spend the rest of my life enjoying Christmases.

Having said that, I’m still going to have a bit of time to enjoy the festive season with my family, as you can see in this video…

I’m a big Christmas dinner fan and last year a good friend of mine - Marco Pierre White - sent someone round to help me cook it.

We were in a new house with a new kitchen, and didn’t want to mess the whole thing up before the family came round.

This year we’re going to go solo – so we’ve taken the tips on board from last year. I’ll tell you in the new year if it was a success or not!

Family man

I love giving Christmas presents, but it can be hard. I get nervous thinking about what I might get for people, especially Elen - my girlfriend - who is sometimes hard to buy for.

However, I think the beauty of this year is that it’s the first year I’ve actually been able to buy a proper present for my daughter. I’ll never forget when I was a kid - I think I was about 11 or 12 - and I came downstairs on Christmas morning and mum and dad asked me to go in the front room.

I walked in and there was a mountain bike sitting there for me with a little bit of tinsel on the handlebars! I’ll never forget that, it was special, and that’s why I want to get something special for my daughter.

As for me…

I don’t really have a wish list for presents this year, but I do like suits and dressing smart. Suits and shoes. I’ve got a thing for shoes, and probably own about 30 or 40 pairs! I like my trainers too…

My team-mate at Chelsea, Michael Ballack, recently bought an early Christmas present for himself - a lovely new Ferrari.

It’s white and very eye-catching - an outstanding car. I’m probably a little bit more conservative - black maybe, or blue. My current car is blue. Chelsea blue.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and have a great Christmas.

Frank.

Frank Lampard on...the Ashes

Hello and welcome to my second exclusive column on the new Orange sport blog. This is where I’ll be giving you my own take on the biggest stories in the sporting world, as well as publishing my own video diaries and pictures for you to enjoy.

Ashes on the mind

A bit unusual you may think, but instead of talking about football, I thought I’d begin with the biggest sporting event for England over the next couple of months – the Ashes.

I’ve always been a big cricket fan – and used to play a lot of it at school. In fact, I played for Essex schoolboys from 11 to 15 and I think I still hold the record of being the youngest person to score a century for my school!

As for following Freddie Flintoff and the lads, I’ll be like most people in watching the odd bit in the early mornings, plus the highlights later on. With my baby, I’m used to being up in the middle of the night anyway – so I may end up watching more than most.

I think we’ve got a good chance of winning the series, but it’s going to be very tough. You have to say Australia are favourites, but with the players we’ve got, and the experience we’ve got, who knows?

Start as underdogs

The hostility of the crowd out there will be factor, and it’s one of those things that can go either way. The crowd can go against you, and you start to play badly, which means the crowd gets on top of you even more.

But if you play well, and use the atmosphere to your advantage, it can work in your favour. The key is starting the series well, and the players will hopefully turn the atmosphere in their favour.

In my career, I remember a particularly hostile game in Turkey with England (to qualify for Euro 2004). It was one of those situations where we used the atmosphere to galvanise us.

We started playing well and the crowd calmed down a little bit. We got the draw we needed and that was a big, big result for us.

Before I go, here's me having a bit of a bat in the nets (press the play button to watch):

'Til next time...

Frank

Join us again soon for another exclusive column

Frank Lampard on... Barcelona

Hello and welcome to my first exclusive column on the new Orange sport blog. This is where I’ll be giving you my own take on the biggest stories in the sporting world, as well as publishing my own video diaries and pictures for you to enjoy.

A beauty at Barcelona

Things are going well for me at Chelsea this season, both personally and as a club. The recent last-gasp draw at Barcelona’s Nou Camp was a particular highlight.

People have questioned whether or not I meant to score my goal that night, and the answer is "yes". It was one of those where I just took a chance without even looking at the goal.

I realised there was no-one in the box and I was annoyed I’d missed out getting an easier chance when the ball first came to me. I had goal on my mind and just went for it.

Out of all the goals – including a good one against Bayern Munich a few years ago – I think it was the best of my career so far. I’d do well to score one like it again. It was a one-off.

Champions, at last

Talking of best-ever moments, I am often asked what is the most memorable game of my career so far. The answer is easy – Bolton away in May 2005.

Personally, to score twice to help us win the league was incredible. Great, great celebrations afterwards. That’s the day above all others that stands out in my career so far, for sure.

Feeling superstitious

When you’re on a good run of form, like I seem to be at the moment (touch wood!), you start thinking more about matchday superstitions and whether they’re helping you out.

I have lots of little superstitions which change depending on my form. I will throw away a pair of boots after a particularly bad game and I always put my right boot on first and my right pad on first.

I also go through stages of listening to the same music on the way into games and I’ll use the same route to go upstairs to eat before a game. It’s quite a lot to remember!

John Terry’s probably got it worse than me though. For example, he’ll only wee in one urinal in the dressing room toilets at Stamford Bridge. If you’re at that one, he’ll queue behind you even though there are others free…

I suppose it just shows how well he wants to do well. These things can make all the difference in your mind.

Before I go, here's a sneak peek behind the scenes of a recent photoshoot I did for Orange (press the play button to watch):

'Til next time...

Frank

Join us again soon for another exclusive column as Frank talks about his passion for the Ashes