A different person

Eyebrows raised over an original £11 million transfer fee paid six years ago have long been forgotten now Frank has an impressive collection of winners’ medals; is Chelsea’s top scoring midfield player ever; is the club’s tenth highest scorer of all-time and is only the second player to win 50 international caps while a Chelsea player.
 
Last season, his 62 games was the highest total by any Chelsea player in a single campaign as Frank continued to drive Chelsea on from midfield game after game after game. No-one of his age has enjoyed more Premiership football and no-one plays more at Chelsea.
 

In December 2005, he finally missed a game with a virus and so brought to an end a new Premiership record of 164 consecutive appearances.
 
Ironically, Frank’s ever-present habit was one of the reasons why he was under-appreciated by some at the club that nurtured him.
 
With Frank’s father the West Ham first team coach, sections of the support at Upton Park cried nepotism over young player’s regular place in their side.
 
Despite that, he was ever-present in the Hammers side that finished fifth in ’98/’99 and was capped for England the next season.
 
When manager Harry Redknapp and Frank senior were sacked from Upton Park, it was time for our Frank to move on.
 
After a quiet start at the Bridge, he bloomed into one of Europe’s finest and in 2003/4, Frank’s phenomenal form was only beaten by Thierry Henry when English football’s individual awards were handed out.

He was well worth his place in the Euro 2004 team and was voted the England team’s Player of the Year.
 
The performances continued to come, as did the goals, Frank’s powerful shooting firing Chelsea to the 2004/5 Championship as he top-scored from midfield with 13 in the League and 19 overall.
 
He created more goals than any Chelsea player in recent memory and there was no-one more appropriate to score the magical goals at Bolton to clinch the title.

The Sportswriters’ Footballer of the Year that year (only the second Chelsea winner in over 50 years) and runner-up in the European and World Player of the Year voting for 2005, vice-captain Frank continued to prove as close to indispensable as you’ll find in modern squad-based football as his team duplicated the Premiership success in 2005/6.
 
Again he was top scorer, this time with 20 goals. His 16 in the League was the highest total ever by a Premiership midfield.
 
That made it all the more surprising when Frank failed to register on the score sheet in the 2006 World Cup in Germany, despite shooting more frequently than anyone.

It drew outside criticism, his years of incredibly consistent achievement seemingly forgotten over night.
 
He needed to prove himself to no-one at Chelsea and last season he went one better again with his goal tally of 21. Only Thierry Henry and Didier Drogba among top flight players had scored more over the past three seasons, both of course strikers.
 
Midfielder Frank also continues to creates goals at a rate unrivalled at Chelsea. José Mourinho simply describes him as unique.

Wed, 24th Oct 2007

Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Ferreira, Alex, Carvalho, Bridge; Essien (Mikel 69), Makelele, Lampard (c); J Cole (Shevchenko 88), Drogba, Malouda (Kalou 53).
Goals Malouda 3, Drogba 46

Schalke (4-3-3): Neuer; Rafinha, Westermann, Bordon (c), Rodriguez (Bajramovic 81); Jones, Grossmüller (Azaouagh 76), Ernst; Lovenkrands, Larsen, Asamoah(Rakitic 60).
Booked Jones 24, Rodriguez 56 

Reflection on game.
With a healthy three points between Chelsea and the rest of Group B, Avram Grant’s side joined Arsenal and Man United in enjoying a good week in Europe.

Just Liverpool with one point from three games are currently struggling to make the knockout stages out of the English sides yet it was Arsenal, 7-0 winners this week, rather than the struggling Merseysiders that Grant was asked to compare his side after the defeat of Schalke.

Reflecting on the 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge, the Chelsea first team coach/manager insisted:

‘I respect Arsenal and I respect other clubs but we are not taking our example from other teams. We want to play our own game.

 ‘We are going step-by-step and even Arsenal took a long time to build this side. We are changing our football in a very short time.

‘As I have said already, I don’t think it was not good in the past but we are trying to change it to do something else and we are going in the right way, you can see that.’

Grant is refusing to be drawn into a pointless ‘who is more entertaining than who’ contest, declaring his aim for the team is simply to win and be entertaining – full-stop.

‘We can play better but I don’t want to look at the sky and say this is the limit. We are playing well at the minute, positive football, it has taken less time than we thought but we go step-by-step.’

‘Every game is better. You see the players have commitment to win the game but also play positive football- not always for 90 minutes, but we are improving and that is what is important.’

 Talking more specifically on Wednesday night’s events, Grant, a lover of goals conjured up by sharp exchanges of passes, was especially appreciative of the second goal, scored by Didier Drogba.

‘It was a very good goal from the beginning, a good combination, a very good cross from Paulo [Ferreira] and Didier scores as he knows how to score.

‘We played good football today. We scored two goals, we could score more but we won and we are in first place with seven points. I can’t ask more at this moment.’