Frank Lampard's 29 Questions with Gary Neville | Overlap Xtra

Frank, we're in the muse houses of Chelsea. This is the Chelsea pig, it's a special place for me. Shall we go inside and have a look? Let's go. You've scored 29 times playing for England and I'm going to ask you 29 quickfire questions. Number one, the toughest opponent you've ever played against? Iniesta. Why? Could go either way on you. Not many midfield players who play in that central area want to take you on so much, they want to pass so they can run. I've played great players, Stevie G, physically brilliant, but some of the times he'd open up and he could take you either way, it meant you couldn't get near him. Him and Xavi when they played in that team were something else. What was your pre-match ritual? There was nothing set in stone, but if I'd go for a walk in the morning and do a lap of the block and I scored, I'd do the lap of the block next week and when I had a bad game I'd change that and do a different thing. In my pre-match meals I would try and be a bit particular, but there was nothing set in stone. I think superstitions can sometimes get on top of you. I'd get to a point where I was trying to do one lap, walk the dog, tap the wall and then it becomes a mess. I had a few. The best goal you've scored? I scored a goal against Barcelona in the Champions League where I chipped it from the byline. It was one of those that was questionable. A few people questioned me. I'd say that's my best technical goal. Overrun it, spun and chipped it over Valdez at the time. That's technically my best. The best goal you've ever seen? My favourite goal ever is David Platt's 1990 World Cup. Oh, Belgium? Yeah, the spin and the volley. It just sticks in my head. I just remember being a young, impressionable kid and just being amazed at the skill level of it. Favourite car? Do you want to sound too...? Bentley. You can't say anything else, can you? You've got to say Bentley. You rolled up in one, didn't you? I did, I did. Bentley. I've got one too. Well, it's hard for him. Yeah, you have. The first football kit you wore? The football kit that I remember, it was Christmas and we used to do presents in the morning and then Mum would hold back one present and hide it and we used to go and have to find it. And I found it and it was an AC Milan kit. Wow. And it was red and black. A classic one. Yeah, a classic. It was kind of like Barazzi time, I would guess. Hullit, maybe. I don't know. That kind of period where Italian football was amazing and it just stuck to me. Messi or Ronaldo? You know what? I've always been a Messi man. And then I watched your debate with Kerr actually recently and I actually think for what Ronaldo's output and actual numbers and goals in big finals and semi-finals and what we've seen, I think I may be given the edge now. It's going to start a load of hatred. Yeah, absolutely. Wait until the comments come through on that one. Your best subject in school? History. Wow, history. Why? Where's that come from? It just grabbed my attention. I think you can flip through school and subjects that would not really excite me, but when we would do things on Romans and then Second World War, that sort of stuff. I was just interested in people and history, yeah. That's the first person I've interviewed that said anything remotely intelligent. No, it's not intelligent. It's not. What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given? Probably from my wife. And it was actually when I got offered a derby job and I wasn't sure about whether to take it. And Christine said to me that her thing is jump and the net will appear. So, you know, take the chance and the net will catch you in the end. And I remember her saying it and I still, at that time, I realised it's a bit corny, a bit cheesy. And I was like, yeah, right. But having done it, it was one of the best things I did. So I'll take that as good advice. Did you say to her, though, the net wasn't there? The net wasn't there. I missed, I jumped through the net and landed. I always get asked this, Lampard, Gerard or Scholes? I'm not going to put you in that spot. I'm going to say Gerard or Scholes. It's a horrible question. It is a horrible question, it is. And I get it in cabs in London. What do you think Lampard, Gerard or Scholes debate and all that stuff? Even to this day, we all had our own attributes and our own things and it's just too hard. And I like both of them as lads and amazing players. I'll never forget the impact of training with Scholes. When I trained with England with Scholes, and I think Manchester United players speak so dearly of them and they just go, he's just incredible. And he was, I remember going, wow. But then playing against Stevie, when Stevie was on his game, it was like, he had so many physical, powerful attributes that sort of suited Liverpool, suited the crew, suited everything. He was like, so bad, I can't, I want to sit on that fence. I'm going to take the opportunity, it's not a quickfire question in this, but do you think it is criminal that the three of you weren't able to play together more in a cohesive midfield? Scholes was obviously the left, you were in midfield. Do you think there could have been a way? How would you have put you three together in a team to make sure it worked? If you were the manager of that, of you three. We played in flat lines at the time, it was 4-4-2. And to be fair to Sven, he tried to play a diamond in Euro 2004. And I know Scholes, he went to the left. He'd been playing centrally before, probably me coming into the squad, he was trying to fit us all in. And it could have been done, and I say probably should have been done. Scholes, he then retired, then he came out of it. You'll know better than me whether he wasn't happy that he'd been shunted out or just wanted to focus on Man Utd. But then he developed into this incredible deep line player. The Scholes I played against as a kid, who you played with, arrived in the box and all that stuff. If he'd have done that and stayed in the England set-up and he played behind me and Stevie, for sure I think he could have. I think so, do you know what I mean? It wouldn't have solved all our problems. I'm not trying to say that that would have been the magic, but if you think about it, I think logically, once you transition to that deeper role. Yeah. Yeah. Favourite superhero? Batman. Your biggest moment in football? Winning the Champions League. Sticks out a mile. The one thing you've kept from your childhood? Passion for eating sweets. I've got a sweet tooth. Still on your bucket list to do? An Iron Man. What is that? Is it a three? Yeah, so you swim, I can't remember the distance, it's a couple of miles, swim, long bike ride, and then a marathon back-to-back, which would probably take you the best part, well, more than ten hours if I was to do it. I would love to cross that line at the end of doing that and do the training process and maybe have to stop drinking martinis. I nearly was thinking then, do you know something? Should we all do one, the Golden Generation, for charity and raise a load of money on Iron Man? That would be quite an interesting day. We could do a half one, which probably would be better. One thing you have in your fridge at all times? Probably cheese. I gave up cheese. I was eating cheese boards after finishing playing football, but do you remember when I started to puff out a little? It becomes a problem when you go from training regularly as your job, how blessed you are, then all of a sudden you have to get yourself to train, and then if you keep eating your cheese... You're done. Your favourite away ground to play in? Tottenham. We used to beat them a lot. I think we lost... We all did! We all beat the Tottenham fan. But we did, and Chelsea had a thing from before I came to the club where they called it Three Point Lane rather than White Hart Lane, and they used to go there and win. I've heard that before. I remember losing once when Harry was there. It was the first time we lost in 20 visits or something, but it was hostile with the fans, but in a good way on the pitch, in a good way. Past or present, what manager would you have loved to play for? Pep. When I finished... He's so great with managers, Pep, as well, because sometimes you only see his teams that he produces, which is obviously the real stuff, but behind the scenes, the things he does with LMA, helping other managers, he's sent me certain voice notes. I don't like giving private conversations, but it's a nice one. When I had my first game for Chelsea, and we lost at Man U 4-0, and we played well for 60 minutes, and we got done on the counter, and then bang, bang, 2-3, and it was 4, so face value is 4-0. You can't defend it as a manager. You have to sort of take it on the chin. Then we went to the Super Cup and lost to Liverpool. Played well, lost some penalties. So I was on the plane on the way back from the game, a little bit disheartened, and I got a voice note from him just saying that the way my team, he said, had played, he said it was incredible. I loved watching it. Blah, blah, blah. Really positive chat. And it was one of those voice notes that deleted itself. It was almost like self-destruct. I wanted to get home. I wanted to say, listen to this, everyone, do you know what I mean? Pep said I'm a good manager. You know, just things like that, touches, that make an impression on you as a manager myself or with people around you. Sometimes you get so caught up in your own world that you don't see things, and the fact that he's doing the business and sending you a voice note like that, I thought was special. And a lot of managers are like that. Jose was like that. I bumped into Jose in the streets around here just after getting sacked, and he had a mask on. It was COVID, obviously, so he had a mask. I didn't get him until the last minute, and he whips his mask off. And before that, when he was at Tottenham, me and him were a little bit like that. Not going to lie, do you know what I mean? And he came over and gave me a big hug, and he went, now you're a real manager because you've been sacked. I was like, cheers. But I loved it, do you know what I mean? And, you know, that's just the world we live in. Your go-to karaoke song? It'd be a Sinatra. It would be, now the end is near. Something like that. What's the last thing you cooked? Spaghetti bolognese. I've got spaghetti bolognese or I've got penne arrabiata. That's it. So I just, like, rotate them occasionally. But I love it. I wish I could cook more. You need to make a squad. I know, I know, I do. But I do a good spag bol, it's good. Funniest in the changing room? John Moncur. Just a naturally funny man. Just would do things that I couldn't repeat here, but just funny stuff. Old school now, you're getting in trouble for it now, but funny. Most competitive player in training? John Terry. Every day, at it, at the ref, like the coach who was the ref, at everyone and pulled the place up when it needed by the scruff of the neck. The greatest of all time? Still a Maradona man. I mentioned the David Platt goal in 1990, but those years, 86 and 90, even the hand of God stuff, I was just mesmerised by him. There's something magic about him. The best player you've played with? I have to always split this one between John and Didier, because John was the leader, as I say, drove the dressing room, did all those things. Didier was the man for the big moments, so I'd feel amiss to leave either of them out. Hazard or Zola? I'm going to bump into one of them after this. I'm going to go Hazard. Franco made such an impression in the first year at Chelsea, I came as an all-rounder, but I think Hazard's levels at Chelsea were the best sort of technical, talented player that Chelsea's ever had. Most stylish player? The player I loved playing with for style was David Silva. Just thought he was... It was everything I expected him to be when I went and played there. In training, we'd go out, we'd drink beers with the lads, I expected him... You'd drink beer with David Silva? Yeah, yeah. I thought maybe the martini. No, no, he'd be there till the end. Come on, he's dumping my estimations even more. Yeah, one of those. But just in training and his manner and humility and style, I loved him, loved him as a player. The worst dress sense? Goalkeepers. We just don't like goalkeepers, do we? Goalkeepers, I... I remember Ed de Huy used to wear the same... He's training trainers to training them back. Do you know, like we'd have a pair of trainers that you get dirty and try... He'd wear them as his trainers. Sporting icon? Federer. Yeah, big fan of his... How he holds himself, talent, everything, longevity. What did you practice the most in training? Chewing. I didn't know why it didn't work. I grew up on chewing practice, probably from my dad or from early days at West Ham. We had a little school that was lucky enough to play with Dicaniosi and Wright came at the back end of his... And it was just what you do. You practice it because it makes you better the weekend and that stuck with me. Lastly, a penalty in the final minute of a game. You can't choose yourself. Who's taking it? Alan Shearer. Shearer all day long? Yeah, just... I love penalty takers that are emphatic, you know, like... Just would do that and Shearer. Brilliant. That's your 29 questions, Frank. Let's go and have a drink. Thank you.