Steven Gerrard has edge over Frank Lampard as MLS showdown looms
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Version 0 of 1. It takes something to alter the tone of a debate about the relative merits of Los Angeles and New York – cultural backwater meets cosmopolitan hub? Western cool meets east-coast hauteur? – but a poster commissioned by LA Galaxy this week spoke of the dominant intrigue behind a football rivalry that takes its first steps today. Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard have polarised a discussion or two themselves in times past and the artwork, advertising “The British Invasion”, set the former England team-mates opposite one another in the manner of a boxing match. They may face each other for real in the colours of LA Galaxy and New York City FC at the former’s StubHub Center on Sunday and, even if arguments about their suitability as a pairing may never be untangled, it seems a clearer-cut case that at least one of Major League Soccer’s high-profile arrivals is having a positive effect on his new surroundings. Related: Galaxy and NYC bring the MLS glamor, and Didier Drogba is ready to go “It’s difficult to come in halfway through the season anywhere, particularly in our league,” says the LA Galaxy president, Chris Klein, of Gerrard, whose first of five MLS appearances to date came in the club’s 22nd league game of the season, a 5-2 win over San Jose Earthquakes last month in which the midfielder scored a well-taken goal. “Not many people have managed it in recent times – perhaps Robbie Keane did it better than anyone – but the way in which Stevie approached the move, doing his homework on the club and the league, was really impressive. He knew everything about the setup from top to bottom: about our club, other clubs, the challenges the league sometimes presents. That level of preparation went a long way, both with his team-mates and with his coaches. He was completely equipped to come straight in and concentrate on his fitness and getting his football legs” Gerrard has fitted comfortably into the midfield of the five-times MLS Cup winners, who lead the Western Conference by a point from Vancouver Whitecaps, gelling promisingly with the Brazilian Juninho. The Galaxy are genuinely thrilled with the way in which he has warmed to his new challenge and the knock-on benefits are tangible, too. “Our merchandise numbers are setting records,” says Klein. “There are a lot of factors involved in that and Stevie is definitely one of them. “I don’t know that you can really grasp the magnitude he has with football fans around the world. His presence, character and the way he speaks about himself, our club and his former club are things people want to hear and get to know.” Gerrard’s combinations with Keane, a former Liverpool team-mate and roaringly successful recruit who has scored 13 times in his fourth full season with the club, have recalled their friendship from Anfield. “The two of them have fed off each other straight away; they make each other better,” says Klein, who believes players such as the towering US international centre-back Omar Gonzalez are also benefiting from his presence. LA Galaxy and MLS perhaps operate in a different space now than they did in the days of David Beckham, whose arrival in 2007 was the watershed for an increasing stream of foreign talent that should include Lampard’s team-mates Andrea Pirlo and David Villa on Sunday. “David was the first one that did this and we’re in a much different time now as a club and as a league,” says Klein. “But he and Stevie are similar in their approaches to the game and their love for it is infectious to everyone who comes into contact with them.” Lampard’s early impact in New York has, perhaps matching the prolonged uncertainty over his arrival date, been more stuttering. He has played only twice, in defeats by Montreal Impact and New York Red Bulls that emphasise the task faced by his club – seventh in the Eastern Conference – in creating a capable squad around its star turns. A quad strain has hindered Lampard and he may find that Kwadwo Poku’s performance in a 3-1 win over DC United last week restricts him to the bench, even if passed fit. “Frank’s a world class player,” says Klein, who tried to sign him for LA Galaxy two years ago before José Mourinho’s return to Chelsea. “When he gets his fitness up and starts playing regularly for New York he’s going to be a big addition. Having players like that in our league is great for any club and we hope he gets to line up here this weekend.” Perhaps Gerrard, walking into a successful and established environment, has an easier task in acclimating than Lampard, who is among those charged with forging the identity of a new club whose success is as yet undetermined. A slow start will raise questions about both individual and institution, although the form of a club’s three ‘designated players’ is only one factor in its development. A meeting between Gerrard and Lampard today – their 34th on opposing sides – might not solve age-old questions about their merits or those of their new cities but it would open a new chapter in the relationship between one of football’s most hotly discussed double acts. |