Injury used as smokescreen for Lampard�s omission by England
Matt Dickinson, Chief Football Correspondent, in Barcelona
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/foo...icle1582556.ece
Frank Lampard was so upset about being dropped from the England team that faced Andorra in Barcelona last night that he considered flying home to London. Although the Chelsea midfield player is carrying an injury, he had not expected to be left out for the first time in more than three years.
While representatives of Lampard and Steve McClaren, the England head coach, claimed that his omission was because of damage to his wrist, sources inside the camp confirmed that he was left out to make room for Steven Gerrard to play in the centre of midfield.
Lampard had told the coaches that he was desperate to play even though he was suffering pain from his fractured wrist and was ready to run out against Andorra wearing a cast on his arm. He was crushed when McClaren pulled him aside yesterday morning and told him that he would not be facing Andorra so that Gerrard could move into the middle and Stewart Downing could come in on the left wing.
It was agreed that all public statements would refer to the injury, but Lampard is expected to be available to face Watford at Vicarage Road on Saturday. The reluctance to say that Lampard had been dropped could invite further criticism for McClaren given longstanding concerns that senior players are being treated too softly.
Lampard was certainly injured when he was struck by Wayne Rooney�s shot in training on Monday. Sources close to the player claimed that attempts to fly him home yesterday afternoon, including by private jet, were so that he could hasten his recovery in England, but he is known to have been rocked by the omission. No flights were available and Lampard took his place in the stands at the Olympic Stadium.
He turned up for the team meeting yesterday morning uncertain about his position but not knowing that he was about to be dropped. Once the team was named, he went along to training with the rest of the squad, but sat on the side-lines throughout.
Sources close to Lampard claimed that he was unhappy not to have been told before the day of the game that he was being left out. Earlier this week he was infuriated simply by the suggestion that he should stand down so that McClaren could try a different strategy.
Lampard has become sensitive to criticism since the World Cup finals last summer when, after England�s exit, he rounded on journalists and accused them of picking on him. It is not clear what reasons McClaren gave for leaving him out, but it is known that coach and player had three private meetings yesterday. The Football Association issued a statement last night insisting that Lampard�s absence was because an examination yesterday had found his wrist �very swollen and uncomfortable�. The governing body claimed that it did not want �to risk making the injury worse� and that there had been dialogue through the day with Jos� Mourinho, the Chelsea manager.
The saga added another twist to last night�s match, what should have been one of the least newsworthy fixtures of England�s Euro 2008 qualifying campaign. With McClaren under huge pressure, with his team faltering in group E, only a comfortable victory would give him respite from criticism.
There had even been prematch talk among supporters that they would give the team only 15 minutes to score before turning on them. They jeered the national team off after the goalless draw against Israel in Tel Aviv on Saturday which, coming on the back of the goalless draw against the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the 2-0 defeat to Croatia in competitive fixtures, had left McClaren only one more bad result away from possible dismissal.
