Who was the Best Midfielder Between Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard? (A Detailed Comparison)

Between the mid 90s to roughly the early 2010s, England was blessed with a vast array of incredibly talented football players in virtually every position. So much so, that the fact that these players failed to win any major honors, will forever remain as a question of what could have been.

In any case, this is a debate for another day.

Today, however, we are here to discuss three particular players who were part of this golden generation and who are frequently compared to one another.

When you look into the similarities between these three individuals, based on their playing careers, it’s easy to see why the comparisons are so prevalent.

Each players was born within 6 years of one another, Each spent almost the entirety of their career at one club, These clubs happen to be each other’s rivals, they each retired within three years of one another, and finally, they have all predominantly played in central midfield positions throughout their careers.

As I’m sure you’ve all seen the title of this article by now, you’ve probably guessed that the players that I am talking about are none other than Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.

And, right off the bat, it’s worth noting that although they share many similarities, all three of these players had different responsibilities within their respective teams, this makes it difficult to compare them.

But none of that really matters does it? Because at the end of the day, us fans will always come back to the same question;

Just who was the best player between Paul Scholes, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard?

First thing’s first, for anyone that’s unaware of the background of these three players, let me provide you with a brief overview of their careers.

Table of Contents

Player Overview

Paul Scholes

Let’s start things off with Paul Scholes.

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Born and bred in Manchester, Paul Scholes is one of the most recognized and celebrated players from Manchester United’ most successful period in history.

He began his professional playing career with United in 1993.

Although he is well known as one of the greatest midfielders in English history, he actually started his career off as a striker. His ball striking technique, excellent ball control and tireless work rate made a him a real threat in front of goal.

After an injury to Roy Keane in 1997, Scholes was moved into the central midfield position where he spent the remainder of his career.

After spending 20 years playing for Manchester United, Scholes retired from professional football in 2013, at 38 years of age.

This was actually his second retirement, but that’s a story for another day.

Steven Gerrard

Moving on to Steven Gerrard;

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Stevie G is widely regarded as not only the best captain, but also the best player in Liverpool history. He truly was a generational talent, winning a multitude of club and personal awards during a time where Liverpool frequently failed to perform in the premier league.

He began his professional career with Liverpool in 1998.

Similar to Scholes, Gerrard did not play in the central midfield position from the offset of his career. Instead, he was deployed in several different positions before he was eventually recognized as a being more effective in the middle of the park.

After spending 17 years in Liverpool colors, Gerrard transferred to LA Galaxy in 2015. He went on to play in Los Angeles for a single season before eventually retiring from professional football in 2016.

Frank Lampard

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And finally, we have Frank Lampard.

Yet another generational talent that is widely considered to be the best player in the history of his club.

Lampard began his career, in 1995, with West Ham United. He transferred to Chelsea in 2001 and went on to spend 13 years at the club.

He eventually left Chelsea in 2014 and subsequently joined Manchester City and then New York City. He spent one year at each of these clubs in 2015 and 2016, respectively, before retiring from the game altogether in 2016.

Lampard spent most of his career in various midfield positions but was also utilized as a second striker on occasion.

To give you an idea of how prolific this man was throughout his career. He is currently the 5^th highest goal scorer in Premier League history, with 177 goals in total. He is also one of two midfielders to feature in the top 20 goal scorers of all time in the competition.

The other midfielder (pause) is Steven Gerrard, in 18^th place, with 120 goals.

Comparison

Structure of comparison

So, now that that’s out of the way and we’re all on the same page, let’s get into the comparison.

So, here’s how this assessment is going to work; Six separate categories will be used to compare each of these three players.

To be more specific, they will be compared based on their in-game statistics, technical ability, leadership and influence, individual awards and team-based awards.

Finally, they will all be assessed, based on their overall versatility and longevity.

The final criteria is understandably more subjective than the other two. This is a measure of which player was able to best adapt their playing style and position over the course of their career. All three played football professionally for roughly two decades, so this is essentially an assessment on how effective they were able to remain, despite the natural evolution of the game over time.

Just as an aside note, I will only be considering their playing careers within the English Premier League.

This means that Lampard’s time playing for New York City will not be considered. Likewise, Gerrard’s time in Los Angeles will not be considered.

1. In game statistics

Now, when I set out to actually compare all three players from a statistical point of view, I was hoping to compare each player based on several criteria. This criterion included chances created, key passes, assists, pass completion, goals, dribbles competed, tackles won, distance covered and many more.

Seeing as these players were all midfielders and were given several tasks and responsibilities, I wanted to leave no stone unturned and be as objective as possible.

Unfortunately, as stated on the Premier League website, the majority of these stats were only recorded comprehensively starting from 2006 onwards. Seeing as all three of these players started their careers in the early to mid-90s, comparing them from a statistical point of view, with the data available, doesn’t yield a concrete outcome.

As a side note, this is also a warning to anyone that sees any statistical comparisons between these three dating from before 2006 to just double check how complete the stats actually are and were they are getting them from.

Having said that, there are a select few statistics that have been recorded since the beginning of the Premier League. The ones most relevant to this discussion are goals, assists and appearances

When we use these stats alone as a basis for comparison, Lampard clearly wins.

As previously mentioned, these stats alone fail to paint a full picture of how effective these players were overall. However, seeing as it’s all we have, and taking into consideration how dominant Lampard’s numbers are, I’m quite comfortable with giving him the win in this category

2. Technical abilities and game intelligence

Onto technical abilities and game intelligence. As per the reasons I’ve stated previously, there are unfortunately no reliable stats available for us to use as a basis for this category. The main stats we would look for here are dribbles completed, pass completion rate for both long and short passes, interceptions, tackle success rates and ball recoveries.

However, all the same, football is not only about statistics. There are further aspects that can’t really be recorded as stats that also need to be considered in this category as well.

Those aspects, to name a few, are first touch, aggression, composure, vision, defensive and offensive awareness and defensive and offensive positioning.

Therefore, this answer will contain a tad bit of subjectivity.

Lampard was undoubtedly highly technical and hardworking, and definitely edges it from a offensive awareness and positioning perspective. Likewise, Gerrard was quite well rounded in all aspects, and was probably the more defensive of the three.

However, Scholes has to take this round. His ability to never lose the ball, dribble out of tight spaces, recycle possession, find players from deep and also contribute defensively and offensively was second to none, in my opinion.

His overall understanding of the game allowed him to dictate the pace of each match in a way that is still yet to be matched in the Premier League.

3. Leadership and Influence

Onto leadership and influence.

Both Lampard and Scholes have been appointed as captains for Chelsea and United, in the past. However, this was almost always on a temporary basis. With the reasons being that the actual captain of their clubs, could not play due to injury or some other factor.

Steven Gerrard is the only player amongst these three that was ever the official captain of their team. And there was good reason for this. Gerrard had the ability to not only be a vocal presence on the field, but also to truly lead by example.

The best examples of this in action are the 2005 Champions league final and the 2006 FA cup final.

In both cases, Liverpool were trailing the opposition at one point and he was able to act as the driving force for his team and motivate them to win. Both games ended up being 3-3, with Liverpool winning on both on penalties in both occasions, and Gerrard scoring vey important goals in both matches.

He obviously did not accomplish these victories single handedly, but his influence cannot be understated here.

Something else to consider is that while Lampard and Scholes were both leaders in their own right, they were almost always surrounded by several other world class players and leaders. No disrespect to Liverpool, but Gerrard was never surrounded by the caliber of players that the other two had. This amplifies his achievements in his incredible career even more

4. Individual awards

Now onto individual achievements. If I’m being completely honest, before even beginning any research for this category, I was convinced that Frank Lampard would be head and shoulders above the other two in terms of personal achievements.

Having watched him in his prime, all I remember is this guy outscoring strikers left, right and centre from the midfield. I mean, I knew that Gerrard was quite prolific in terms of awards too, but I must admit that I was surprised at how close their personal trophy hauls are.

They’ve both won multiple player of the month awards throughout their careers. Not to mention that they’ve both won 2 English player of the year awards and one football writer’s association award each.

However, I feel that there has to be a winner in each category. And seeing as Lampard has achieved the highest ballon d’or ranking of the two in his career, finishing 2^nd in 2005, this will be used as the tie breaker. Despite the fact that Gerrard’s highest ranking is 3^rd, Lampard wins this round.

Fun fact, Gerrard and Lampard actually both achieved their highest ever ballon d’or ranking in the same year. Safe to say 2005 was a good year for English Football.

Bonus fun fact, Scholes has received 5 ballon d’or nominations throughout his career, but he’s surprisingly never received a single vote. Therefore, it’s very difficult to assess what his highest ranking is. Regardless of who you think the best player amongst these three is, I think we can all agree that the fact that Scholes never received a single vote is a bit odd.

5. Team Awards

Moving onto team awards, and there was only ever going to be one winner here. While all three players played for highly successful teams.

Scholes played for the most successful team in the country for two decades. If we’re only counting major trophies, he wins this round by a country mile.

It’s while it is worth noting that these are not a true reflection on the ability of each player. However, as a member of the team, they are entitled to take some responsibility for the achievements.

6. Versatility and Longevity

Finally, onto versatility and longevity.

As previously stated, this is a measure of who was able to adapt better over the course of their career.

Its common knowledge that younger players have less wear and tear and are thus able to output a much high work rate on the pitch. Naturally, as player’s age, they lose this ability. However, they also gain experience and in game intelligence, this allows them to conserve their energy for when it is needed and still remain effective.

Generally, what this looks like for midfielders is that they slowly tend to be positioned deeper and deeper in the field. This is so they can be positioned outside of the more congested areas of the pitch, have a wider view of the game and are thus able to better choose how they spend their energy.

Now bringing the focus of this thought back to Scholes, Gerrard and Lampard. All of these players were deployed as box to box midfielders, dynamic number 8s, attacking midfielders and much much more at varying points in their careers.

Subsequently, all three were understandably also moved deeper and deeper towards the end of their careers.

While all three possessed great experience and game intelligence in their later years, Scholes was undoubtedly, the one that managed to stay effective for the longest. Seeing as how the name of the game in deep lying positions is ball distribution and ball retention, this only makes sense.

In Scholes’ second last season with Manchester United, at 38 years of age, he was able to achieve a 92% pass completion rate, while only losing possession, on average, once every 154 minutes.

Comparatively, Lampard and Gerrard played their last season in England at 36 and 35 years of age and both never produced higher than an 85% pass completion rate in any season throughout their entire careers. While these numbers are obviously elite, Scholes was just on another level in this department.

Therefore, this category has to go to Paul Scholes.

Winner

So, if we tally the scores up, based on the criteria used in this evaluation, Scholes come out on top. He wins 3 of the 6 criteria, with Lampard in second place with 2, and Gerrard in third place with 1.

Closing thoughts

In closing, these are all fantastic players and have all contributed greatly to the world of football. Imagine if, by some miracle, there was ever a point in time where they all played for the same time and we actually utilized all of their amazing abilities.

Alas, we will never know how that could’ve turned out…

In all seriousness, despite the similarities noted in this write-up, I just want to reiterate that each player fulfilled vastly different roles in their clubs, at their respective peaks.

Lampard in his prime was a true number 8, focusing in large part on offence. I mean, the guy scored 22 goals and made 14 assists in 2010, as a midfielder.

Gerrard in his prime was a true box to box midfielder, capable of being at either end of the pitch at a moment notice and contributing greatly wherever he was. Adding onto that, he was one of the greatest leaders of all time

Scholes on the other hand was one of the greatest deep lying midfielders of all time, in his prime. A master at keeping possession and controlling the tempo of the game. But in truth, he could do it all; defend, attack, the whole deal.

At the end of the day, depending on who you ask, there are several reasons that point towards any one of these players being superior. And realistically, this argument can go either way. In essence, this debate will always be open to interpretation.

However, with that in mind, this is still quite fun debate to have. It’s always interesting hearing everyone’s take on these legends. On that note, I’d be interested in hearing your takes on these players, comment below who you think was the best out of the three and why.