Tag: Frank Lampard

If anything, Frank Lampard might be too good for MLS

At the start of the season, fans eager to stamp out MLS’s “retirement league” tag and impatient writers desperate for pageviews dubbed Frank Lampard the league’s worst ever signing. Now, after a loan (that wasn’t really a loan at all) to Man City and a nagging calf injury that has limited his time in MLS since being unveiled by New York City FC in 2014, Lampard has scored eight goals in his last seven matches, including the first hat trick in his club’s brief history.

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Dr. Strangeleague or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the aging superstar in MLS

Anyone who has ever had a disparaging nickname knows how hard it can be to shake. For MLS, it’s the label of being a retirement league. That phrase has burrowed deep under the skin of the league and its supporters, forcing new signing who fit that stereotype to declare their intentions to actually try upon arrival.

Perhaps because of this, Americans have developed a compulsion for rushing to criticize aged stars from other lands who don’t immediately perform well once they join the league. As if condemning a well known player will magically rid MLS of the irrelevant yet somehow still hurtful “retirement league” tag or unquestionably prove that the level of play in the U.S. surpasses the expectations of its doubters.

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Frank Lampard scores first MLS goal more than a year after first pretending to join NYCFC

Wearing the captain’s armband in the absence of the injured David Villa, Frank Lampard finally scored his first MLS goal to put NYCFC up 1-0 against Toronto FC.

It’s been a long road to this point for Lampard, who was first unveiled in New York back in July 2014. He immediately joined sister club Manchester City on a short-term deal for the 2014/15 Premier League campaign that was extended into the start of NYCFC’s inaugural MLS season.

He scored eight times for Man City and finally made his NYCFC debut in August. He missed a few more games due to injury and now, in his fifth appearance for the club, he’s scored a goal. Let the joyous anti-climax wash over you.

LA Galaxy parody NYCFC’s greasy Villa, Pirlo, and Lampard photoshoot

(Lyle Ashton Harris/NYMag.com)
(Lyle Ashton Harris/NYMag.com)

The LA Galaxy will host New York City FC this Sunday, so to prepare for the match, they decided to make fun of their fellow aging European talent collectors.

NYCFC gave the Galaxy plenty to work with by allowing their big three — David Villa, Andrea Pirlo, and Poku Frank Lampard — to be photographed wearing white tank tops and looking greasy by New York Magazine for some reason. So the Galaxy recreated this shoot with Dan Gargan, Alan Gordon, and Nacho Maganto.

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NYCFC fans mark Frank Lampard’s debut with “I love Lamp” banner

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Frank Lampard finally made his NYCFC debut a year after first being unveiled by the new MLS club, coming off the bench in the 69th minute of their 3-2 loss to Montreal. Despite the confusion and lies that led to him playing a full season for sister club Man City before reaching this day, the New York fans showed there were no hard feelings with an “I love Lamp” banner, expressing both their support of the former England international and their love of Anchorman character Brick Tamland.

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Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are first two players named to MLS All-Star team despite never playing in MLS

MLS has announced the Fan XI and league commissioner Don Garber’s two selections for the league’s All-Star squad, which will face Tottenham Hotspur in this year’s All-Star Game on July 29. Of those 13 players, only two are guaranteed spots on the teamsheet — the bossman’s picks. Who happen to be a couple of guys who have never appeared in an MLS match as of their selection and have spent the last 15 years proving they can’t play together. Yes, the LA Galaxy’s Steven Gerrard and NYCFC/Man City’s Frank Lampard.

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Andrea Pirlo is making out with his girlfriend at Yankee Stadium

Andrea Pirlo is reportedly on the verge of signing with New York City FC (and, by extension, Man City), so he was in attendance at their New York derby match against the Red Bulls with his family. And he was feeling saucy. 

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