During the 71 games Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard played together for England, the importance of the duo at the centre of midfield was overshadowed by the underachievement of the Three Lions' 'golden generation' they were part of.
Context and perceptions complicate comparisons between the two at domestic level during and after their time on the pitch. Liverpool legend Gerrard could be portrayed as pivotal to a club with fewer resources than Lampard's Chelsea, but the Londoner operated under transfer restrictions when he became boss at Stamford Bridge while his former team-mate triumphed at Rangers, who are giants in a Scottish Premiership with significantly fewer big hitters.
One less arguable conclusion is that the gifted pair are yet to hit the heights of their playing days during their management careers, although both can claim qualified successes along the way.
Here's a look at some of the numbers, including club trophies, individual awards and their records on the sidelines.
Lampard vs. Gerrard playing records, trophies, finals
Between 2001 and 2014, Lampard won 11 major trophies with Chelsea. Gerrard won eight with Liverpool between 1998 and 2015.
Liverpool finished second in the Premier League three times during Gerrard's time with them, while Lampard won the league three times, becoming a symbol of the transformation into title winners the club went through after billionaire Roman Abramovich took over in 2003.
Lampard also lost in the FA Cup final in 2002, the Carabao Cup final in 2008 and the UEFA Champions League final in 2008, as well as captaining Chelsea when lost the 2012 and 2013 UEFA Super Cup finals, and the Club World Cup showpiece in 2012.
Gerrard lost the 2005 Carabao Cup and 2012 FA Cup finals to Lampard's Chelsea. He also tasted defeat in the 2005 Club World Cup final and 2007 UEFA Champions League final.
Here are their final trophy tallies as players.
| Player | Premier League | FA Cup | Carabao Cup | Champions League | Europa League/UEFA Cup |
| Frank Lampard | 3 (2005, 2006, 2010) | 4 (2007, 2009, 2010, 2012) | 2 (2005, 2007) | 1 (2012) | 1 (2013) |
| Steven Gerrard | 0 | 2 (2001, 2006) | 3 (2001, 2003, 2012) | 1 (2005) | 1 (2001) |
Lampard vs. Gerrard Premier League stats, honours
Individually, Lampard won the Premier League Player of the Season once – an accolade Gerrard never received.
Gerrard joined Lampard in winning Players' Player of the Year once, and his two Fans' Player of the Year awards represent one more than Lampard won.
Lampard was Chelsea's Player of the Season three times. Gerrard was Liverpool's on four occasions, including three seasons out of four between 2006 and 2009.
In the top flight, Lampard's 609 appearances were 105 more than Gerrard made. Lampard scored 57 more goals and provided 10 more assists.
Lampard's superiority in front of goal is demonstrated by his shooting accuracy and success, but Gerrard set up more major opportunities for Liverpool.
| Player | Goals (assists) | Goals per match | Shooting accuracy (success) | Assists | Big chances created | Pass completion % |
| Frank Lampard | 177 (102) | 0.29 | 51.55 (21.27) | 102 | 15 | 82.74 |
| Steven Gerrard | 120 (92) | 0.24 | 46.83 (16.15) | 92 | 34 | 81.75 |
There is a strong case for Gerrard being the better player defensively. Both were seen as all-action, but the Reds great's totals are far higher in terms of defensive measures despite playing significantly fewer games than Lampard. The blemish on Gerrard's record, in this respect, is his disciplinary record.
It could also be argued that Gerrard had more work to do while excelling in inferior squads, as Liverpool's record of finishing below Chelsea in 11 of Lampard's 14 seasons as a Blues player would suggest.
| Player | Blocks | Interceptions | Tackles (successful) | Clearances | Aerial battles won | Yellow/red cards |
| Frank Lampard | 42 | 248 | 491 (351) | 306 | 64 | 59/2 |
| Steven Gerrard | 64 | 356 | 598 (435) | 435 | 250 | 61/6 |
Lampard and Gerrard playing for England
Lampard and Gerrard never hit the same heights for England as they did domestically and retired with a sense that they should have achieved more internationally.
England never went beyond the quarterfinals of a major tournament while either player was involved, despite the likes of Ashley Cole, John Terry, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen ensuring the squad did not lack the required talent to win honours.
As of April 2023, Gerrard's 114 caps put him fourth on the list of top appearance makers for England, with his 21 goals standing him 18th on the all-time scoring list.
As you might expect, the more attacking Lampard scored 29 times for England, putting him 10th on the list after 106 appearances.
Lampard vs. Gerrard managerial records
As hugely influential figures who often wore the captain's armband on the pitch, there was much anticipation around Lampard and Gerrard's coaching careers following their retirements – and both men have experienced the highs and lows of leading from the technical area during the early years of their post-playing careers.
The pair took on very different challenges when they were confirmed in their first jobs almost on the same day in summer 2018.
Lampard took over at Derby County, a giant of English football who have fallen on harder times, ahead of the 2018-19 season when the Rams were entering their 11th consecutive season in the Championship, having lost in the playoff semifinals the previous season.
Rangers, who appointed Gerrard, had not added to their wealth of Scottish titles since 2011 and were still recovering from having to rise through the divisions after being relegated to the bottom tier of Scottish football's league pyramid in 2012 following a debt crisis.
Derby finished in the same position of sixth but reached the playoff final at the end of Lampard's first season, where they were beaten 2-1 by Midlands rivals Aston Villa at Wembley Stadium to deny the Rams a return to the Premier League.
Lampard started the subsequent season in the Premier League despite that disappointment, leaving in June 2019 for Chelsea, where he oversaw a fourth-placed finish in the top flight and a run to the FA Cup final, losing to Arsenal.
A hero to fans because of his litany of previous achievements, he won praise for his handling of a youthful squad while the club could not make signings as part of a punishment imposed on them over two transfer windows due to breaches involving academy players, but was sacked in January 2021 with Chelsea 24 points off the top of the table in fourth place.
By that time, Rangers were still yet to truly threaten arch-rivals and champions Celtic during Gerrard's reign. He had, however, firmly re-established them as the team most likely to take over and led them to the knockout stage of the UEFA Europa League.
An astonishing improvement was to come in 2020/21, when Rangers won the title by 25 points during an unbeaten season that enshrined Gerrard and his players in club folklore.
That was the first title Lampard and Gerrard had won between them as managers, and it was a massive high point for Gerrard before he experienced the same struggles as his former Three Lions team-mate back in England.
With his reputation growing to the point that some were suggesting he could succeed Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, Gerrard accepted the job at Villa in November 2021 following the surprise sacking of Dean Smith, who had orchestrated the win over Lampard's Derby at Wembley to take the club up.
After a promising run of eight wins and two draws in his first 16 games as a Premier League manager, Gerrard only gained two wins in the final 12 matches of the season – against Norwich City and Burnley, both of whom were relegated – as Villa finished 14th.
That form continued when Villa began the 2022/23 season with two wins from 11 games, and a 3-0 humbling at newly promoted Fulham as part of a run of one win in nine led to Gerrard's sacking.
@AVFCOfficial part ways with Gerrard.
— Kojo Wusu (@KojoWusu11) October 20, 2022
Steven Gerrard's Premier League record with Aston Villa:
Games: 39
Losses: 19
Wins: 12
Draws: 8
Goals for: 45
Goals against: 53
Win percentage: 30.8% pic.twitter.com/snfUQ8VuWZ
Lampard returned to management when he took over at struggling Everton in January 2022. The Toffees were hardly resurgent but a stirring late comeback win at home to Crystal Palace saw them secure Premier League safety with a game to spare on one of the finest – if most chaotic – nights of their manager's coaching career.
Unfortunately for Lampard, Everton showed little improvement during a 2022/23 season when he swiftly joined Gerrard in becoming a favourite for the axe.
A six-game winless run to start the campaign was followed by two successive victories, but only one more would follow before Lampard was sacked in January with Everton in the relegation zone again after six defeats in seven Premier League games.
His dismissal from Everton left Lampard still looking for his first trophy as a manager, his reputation damaged and his ability as a coach in question.
Frank Lampard's record as Everton manager:
— Squawka (@Squawka) January 23, 2023
◉ 44 games
◉ 24 defeats
◉ 12 wins
◉ 8 draws
27.3% win rate. 😳 pic.twitter.com/C1Dt8LTzbQ
As was the case at Derby and Chelsea, though, there were some mitigating circumstances. Lampard, like Gerrard, remained unproven and hard to judge, with neither seeming convincingly impressive as a boss aside from that magnificent season for Rangers.
When Lampard was reappointed Chelsea manager on a caretaker basis in April 2023, it was seen as a sign of a lack of vision and imagination by the club's new owners under businessman Todd Boehly.
Lampard would not be drawn on whether he might accept any invitation to take the job on a long-term basis following the removal of Graham Potter after a dire run of form marked the end of the former Brighton & Hove Albion manager's seven-month reign.
Here are Lampard and Gerrard's managerial figures. Gerrard's relatively lengthy spell at Rangers means he has overseen 45 more matches and has a far higher win percentage than Lampard.
| Manager | Matches | Wins | Draws | Defeats | Win percentage |
| Frank Lampard | 188 | 80 | 42 | 66 | 42.6% |
| Steven Gerrard | 233 | 138 | 50 | 45 | 59.2% |