Being a player of the digital age, Frank Lampard is able to watch a new DVD chronicling his full Chelsea career. He talks to the official Chelsea website about cringing over his past and flourishing as a footballer.

It might be a blessing or it might be a curse but for the modern, top-level footballer, his entire career is recorded for posterity. That's every goal, every pass and tackle, and even every mistake.

No longer can the passage of time add an extra 10 yards to the memory of a special long-range goal that was smashed in, nor can it make a favourite flying winger the fastest thing ever to take to a football pitch when his deeds are retold many years down the line.

Would the legends of the pre-TV era like Hughie Gallacher, or stars of the Pathé News black-and-white years such as Roy Bentley be enhanced or diminished if later generations of fans could watch hours and hours of them in action?

Even as recently as two decades ago, major Chelsea action was not automatically recorded by TV or film cameras. For instance, and it's hard to imagine now, the goals from the famous 5-0 thrashing of Leeds in 1984 that put Chelsea back in the top division after a five-year wait will never be seen by anyone who was not there that afternoon.

But those days have long gone, and for the Frank Lampard generation of Premier League players, the archive is complete. Indeed some of it is aired regularly on digital TV channels or is available to view online on demand.

Having a digital-age career has allowed the production a new DVD - Super, Super Frank, chronicling his Chelsea years with exclusive interviews and every one of his goals available to view again.

For Frank, when he watched the DVD for the first time, some of the games and goals were very familiar indeed.

'I am a big watcher of old games actually,' he admits to the official Chelsea website.

'It is nice to look back at games since I've been at Chelsea, on Chelsea TV or on video. I've got a lot of good memories and it is good to see them and I even watch some mundane games from a few years ago, just to see how we were playing those days. Sometimes you forget little bits.

'I just flick through and if there is a game from a few years ago I'll watch it out of interest, if not the full 90 minutes then patches because your game, personally and as a team, definitely changes over the years.'

So what does the 31-year-old Frank think when he sees himself back in his West Ham days or shortly after his 2001 move to Stamford Bridge?

'I am quite critical. I think oh my God, I can't believe I'm making those mistake or moves. Sometimes it is quite cringey to see things you did and it is quite bad just to see how young you look and realise that the years have passed.

'You do realise that you have come a long way, particularly from the first season or two I was at Chelsea. It is nice to see the progress.'

Frank believes his teenage game was built on much the same principles as his football now - passing and trying to arrive in goalscoring positions - although he recalls being shorter and less athletic, finding it harder to get around the pitch. Stamina is something he had to work on.

His first season at Chelsea was a steady settling-in process rather than a big impact after a big money transfer. One of the early lessons he credits Claudio Ranieri with teaching him was more economy of movement.

'When I watch those old games, I see the different ways I did the running. With experience you run at different times. But it's not just that. My involvement in games in the first year or two here was a lot less than now.

'That is probably just general growing of yourself and confidence. You feel you can take more control of games.'

At the climax of a maiden year that yielded seven goals from 53 games, his burgeoning ability to be a major influence was showcased at Cardiff in the 2002 FA Cup Final against Arsenal. It should not be forgotten just how revered the Gunners' Patrick Vieira was at the time - widely considered to be the ultimate midfielder for the Premier League - yet although Chelsea ultimately lost the match, our number 8 had the better of his personal midfield duel with the Arsenal number 4.

'I like to look back at that game now because I felt I did well at the time. There were a few games in the second half of the season where I felt comfortable and thought this is what I can do. That match being a showpiece and against probably the best midfielder at the time, I was really up for the game.

'It had been a good end to a difficult first season at times and I really wanted to show it. A lot of fans said to me afterwards that it was the time they saw what I could bring to the club and that was a big stepping stone. It gave me a lot of confidence and I went away that summer to improve.'

Anyone who watches Frank's goals on the DVD should take note of his second of that second season - scored away at Southampton. Timing his run into the area to complete a passing move, he took Eidur Gudjohnsen's supply and calmly finished. It was the first example in a Chelsea shirt of what is now regarded the typical Frank Lampard goal.

'It's one of my favourites,' he acknowledges, 'because I was growing in confidence. I set my stall out with the goals I wanted to score, being involved in the build-up, arriving in the box and then the quality of the finish. It was something I have tried to emulate since then, and that's one of the first ones I can remember doing it.

'Sometimes you knock the ball about and stay a bit static and it doesn't look so impressive, but I started to run with the ball more in the middle of the park that season. Once you do that, things open up for you to make passes. So my assists and involvement in games came from that, my ability to run with the ball and then find a pass.'

By the fourth season José Mourinho had arrived, and both the former Blues boss and his main midfielder have spoken about discussions they had at the time on turning a very good player into a winner.

'It just involved self-confidence and a progression from what I'd been doing the season before, which had been a very good season for me with Ranieri,' Frank explains.

'We'd got to the semis of the Champions League and I felt I belonged. Mourinho took that on and I was fortunate to be in a team that was very strong with a fantastic manager, and we became winners as a group.

'Personally I pushed myself on again with more confidence and my game became a bit more complete.'

Long-range striking of the ball became more frequent - both in terms of shots on goal and passes, and then last season chipped attempts at the target became a new weapon, most wonderfully executed away to Hull City. As trophies were added to the collection, so were more skills.

'I still feel the need to add new things to my game now. I am very critical if I watch matches and I will always try to add stuff. I've had that throughout my career.'

We're still waiting for a lob at goal this season, but Frank promises it will come when his instincts tell him the moment is right. What has been on display recently, and last year too, is the type pass most associated in recent times with Ronaldinho - a look one way, play the ball the other way speciality. Is deep down there a touch of the showman in Frank - a player whose industry about the pitch is more likely to label him a traditional English-style midfielder, albeit a very accomplished one?

'I think there is,' he agrees. 'The basics in my game are hard work and attitude, but if I'm feeling on top of it then I enjoy trying a few things, whether it be a flick or a pass. I'm fortunate to play in a good team where there is a lot of strength around and if things are going well you can try things. When you are struggling you keep it simple.

'I've tried a couple of those [Ronaldinho-style] passes - some will come off and some won't. I wouldn't have had the confidence or the quality to do it as a youngster. Now with the movement we have around, the way defences are now - much tighter than they were - you have to try something different to open a defence. If you can throw in a dummy, look one way and pass the other, sometimes it can open them up.'

We'll have to wait to find out what the next new skill to be added to the Lampard armoury will be, taking him further away from the fresh-faced east Londoner he sees when he watches his early games on TV.

If the Frank Lampard of now could give the Frank Lampard of then a piece of advice, what would it be?

'I think I knew the path I wanted to take and I'm proud I had the mental belief to work hard and improve,' he responds. 'I was quite level-headed. I've slight off-the-field regrets I wish I'd never done, but that's what every youngster does and as I've got older I've learned about that.

'So I think I would say to do exactly as I did do, which was to work hard at every part of my game. Maybe I would say have more belief in yourself, because when I first came to Chelsea I was a bit in awe of certain players and the whole situation, which is why maybe it took me a while to settle in.'

So he wouldn't even advise against any of his haircuts he looks back upon?

'Only the really young West Ham days with the big curtains. It felt alright at the time but looking back it doesn't look so good. My haircut hasn't changed too much in the last four or five years and I don't think it will do!'

The Super, Super Frank DVD is an exclusive documentary in which the player looks back on his career at Chelsea to date, including his most important goals and achievements for the club.

The programme features interviews with current team-mates John Terry, Joe Cole, and Didier Drogba as well as the thoughts of Frank Lampard Snr, Gianfranco Zola and Ray Wilkins. Each reveals the man behind the player and explains what makes Frank Lampard such a special talent.

DVD extras include every goal he's scored for Chelsea as well as a quiz revealing how much the player remembers about his successes at the club.

It is available now in the Megastore at Stamford Bridge or via the Online Megastore, priced £17.99.

Click for news on Frank Lampard and John Terry appearing at the special Christmas Star on a Stool.