Why Chelsea’s Marco van Ginkel is the next Frank Lampard

Lampard is most associated with his goal output and van Ginkel is showing signs of similar production in front of goal. He has scored 5, 6 and 12 goals in three campaigns, an upward curve which is very similar to Lampard’s in his younger years. In fact, van Ginkel already has more goals in club football than Lampard had at the same age, but in his first three years as a first team regular between age 20 and 22, Lampard got 10, 9 and 14 goals.

If you take Lampard’s 10 and van Ginkel’s 12 as the start point, van Ginkel is showing every sign of having the ability to score goals like Lampard. van Ginkel scores goals in the same way that Lampard did at the peak of his career which saw 10 successive seasons in which he reached double figures. He has those unteachable traits; timing and positioning.

Van Ginkel scores goals by arriving in dangerous areas unnoticed and with impeccable timing. If the initial cross is dealt with and the ball comes to the edge of the box, he’s there to put it in. He’s providing the bursting run from midfield to be the cut back option or he’s getting himself in to the box looking for scraps to put in. He’s a cool and composed finisher.

Every trait that made Lampard such a consistent goalscorer. In fact, check this out, does the number 8 roaming forwards look more than a little like Lampard to you?

The video also demonstrates how similar van Ginkel’s passing style is to Frank Lampard’s. His ability to play precise balls in to space for forward runners or to pick the correct ball around the penalty box was one of Lampard’s hallmarks. His relationship with Didier Drogba is also similar to van Ginkel’s with Wilfried Bony at Vitesse. Van Ginkel possesses the intelligence to find the correct pass accurately and in a timely fashion, in the way that Lampard and Drogba used to connect.

Chelsea have bought Marco van Ginkel because he has everything he could possibly need to be a direct replacement for Frank Lampard. He has the physical tool set, the natural fitness, the intelligence and football instincts that made Lampard so special. He scores goals because of good technique, but even more so because of that unteachable trait; timing. Chelsea have got their new Frank Lampard for the next decade. He could be the final piece in an absurdly talented jigsaw.