Ex-England stars Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Paul Scholes are ranked by former midfielder who played with all three and claims Chelsea legend ‘had nowhere near the same natural talent’
Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Paul Scholes all enjoyed fantastic playing careers.
The trio all played in midfield and made a total of 1,612 Premier League appearances for their respective clubs, while also enjoying successful careers with England.
Despite this, there is a lot of debate about which of the three is the best midfielder of their generation.
The debate has divided fans for years, with each player having scored more than 100 goals in the top flight during their playing career.
Despite this, one of their former colleagues, who played with all three stars for England, gave his verdict on who he thinks is the best of the trio.
Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are widely regarded as three of the best midfielders to ever play for England
Lampard leads the way with the most league goals of the three, with 177 goals in 609 Premier League games
Gerrard, meanwhile, is widely regarded as one of Liverpool’s best ever players after leading the side to the 2005 Champions League title.
Former England midfielder Kieron Dyer claimed Scholes was better than the Liverpool legend and Chelsea icon, adding that the Man United midfielder had a big advantage over the other two.
‘Paul Scholes. “I have no respect for Frank Lampard, but that’s not even a conversation,” he said Driving time on talkSPORT when asked who he thought was the best of the three.
‘Frank has had the most assists in the Premier League and has scored more goals than him, but my answer to that is that Chelsea played a very different formation to Manchester United and Liverpool at the time, if you throw in Steven Gerrard.
‘I like Frank Lampard because of the three, including Steven Gerrard, he didn’t have nearly the same amount of natural ability and talent as them to allow him to have the career he had.
“Every time I saw him in training he was doing extras – shooting and he was labeled ‘fat’ by West Ham fans and the amount of quick stuff he did – he was completely committed.
‘Everything he has – it’s a bit like Messi and Ronaldo when they say Messi has a God-given talent and Ronaldo all works hard – that’s how I see Scholes, Gerrard and Lampard.’
He was asked to rank the three, with Dyer putting Scholes first, Gerrard second and Lampard third.
Lampard would go on to enjoy a glittering career that spanned 22 years and saw him win several titles, including the Champions League in 2012 and three Premier League titles.
Despite this, Scholes would go on to become the most decorated of the three, winning two Champions League titles with Man United, while also picking up a whopping eleven Premier League trophies.
Man United star Scholes won no fewer than eleven Premier League titles between 1996 and 2013
But when asked who was the best, their former teammate Kieron Dyer claimed Scholes had a big lead over the other two but praised Lampard for his work ethic.
He paid tribute to the former Chelsea captain by saying Lampard did not have nearly as much natural ability as the other two players.
Despite this, Dyer added that David Beckham was much better when it came to playing for England than his other three teammates.
Dyer, meanwhile, started his career at Ipswich before moving to Newcastle in 1999. He would spend around eight years at St James’ Park, before moving to West Ham, returning to Ipswich on loan, before playing for QPR and Middelsbrough.
The former midfielder recently revealed in an exclusive chat with Mail Sport that he had undergone a liver transplant which saved his life in 2023.
He also made 33 appearances for England and revealed that while Gerrard, Lampard and Scholes are arguably three of the best midfielders in Premier League history, David Beckham was better than them all when it came to playing for England.
He claimed the former Man United number 7 delivered every time he pulled on an England shirt and, looking back on Beckham’s career, he said his controversial send-off against Argentina was the only black mark on his name.
He said: “He has performed for England every time and he has played for England over 100 times. We can’t say that about Wayne Rooney; We can’t say it about Scholesy, Steven Gerrard, Lamps or Rio, but you can say it about Beckham.’