LAMPS NAMED LONDON'S TOP PLAYER

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Posted on: Sun 07 Dec 2008

Frank Lampard has today been named the BBC London Player of the Year for 2008, and the midfielder has been discussing the past 12 months.

On the pitch it has been a mixed year for Lampard, who turned 30 in June. Sterling form on the pitch has seen him score his 100th Chelsea goal, moving into the club's top 10 all time goalscorers, as well as overtaking Peter Osgood's 380 appearances, which also takes him into the top 10 of Blues' appearance makers.

Carling Cup and Champions League Final defeats have also been experienced, but it is off the field events that will forever live in the memory after the death of his mother Pat in April.

'I'll be honest, it's been a terrible year for me, and from a personal situation it supersedes football completely,' said Lampard.

'On the pitch it has been relatively successful, we didn't win anything as a team last year which was disappointing but to get to a Champions League final and perform like we did at times under pressure was great.'

We reached Moscow after semi-final victory over Liverpool, a game in which the midfielder played despite his mother's passing just days before. He is still uncertain as to why he felt he needed to play in that game.

'The decision to play is hard to explain because looking back at it now I was on auto pilot. I was in shock basically, and the only way I felt I could get through the situation was to carry on with my life because it gave me a certain focus,' he explained.

'I'm not one to lay indoors and feel depressed even though I was very down, I needed to lift myself to a certain extent and that was an opportunity for me to be out there and try and do something positive and make my mum proud because I know she would have been. So that game was on autopilot, I don't remember too much around the game. It was a difficult time.'

To date, the former West Ham man has scored 19 goals for us this calendar year and he feels things are going well under Luiz Felipe Scolari.

'This season has started very well for me. It's probably some of the best football I have played in my career, so that's great and I hope to continue with that.

'I've got a great relationship [with the manager], he has brought a breath of fresh air to the dressing room and pitch. Last year Avram Grant did very well and people shouldn't overlook that, he was fantastic for me personally through difficult times but this year has been a breath of fresh air.

'The manager has given us a freedom and motivation to play. We've had a couple of results that are not so good but the levels of expectation are so high that if you are top of the league and need to win a Champions League qualifier to qualify you can still come under fire. We have to stay strong and the season so far has been very positive.'

Lampard was linked with a move away over the summer, but with a new contract signed in the week before the season kicked off, he is only looking forward, and thanked the fans for their support.

'The reason I'm so close with the fans and feel I have a rapport with them is coming from West Ham to Chelsea was a potentially difficult move and the fans, in a difficult first year, took to me fantastically well and got behind me.

'The way they are with me now and the feelings I have for them, I feel very strongly as a Chelsea person now. It has overtaken my life and I can't forget that really.'

With the New Year approaching, he has started to compile a wish list for 2009, and believes recapturing the league title must be a priority.

'I'd like to win the Premier League back and the feeling we had as a group when we won the first one in particular was amazing. That's at the top of my list and the Champions League can't be far behind because when you get that close and you feel the disappointment you realise what it could have been like, and I think we have the potential to do it,' he said.