PURCHASE, N.Y. ā Frank Lampard has gone through quite a transformation in his first full season in Major League Soccer.
From being booed during his 2016 debut when he came off the bench in a 7-0 drubbing by the New York Red Bulls to scoring the first hat trick in New York City FC history in a 5-1 pasting of the Colorado Rapids on Saturday, the public perception of the English icon has come full circle.
But NYCFC coach Patrick Vieira isnāt surprised by what heās seen from the 38-year-old midfielder, who has quickly shed the āworst signing everā label that some put on him earlier this season.
āHe understands the game quicker than anybody else,ā Vieira said. āHis brain helps him get to the position where other people donāt even think about it and this is why heās scoring goals. He smells the goals. Heās really dangerous inside the box. His finishing is fantastic.ā
Lampard, who was named MLS Player of the Week on Tuesday, has said all along that when heās healthy he can score goals ā and no one in Major League Soccer has more since June 18. He has eight during that span and is a big reason why NYCFC sits atop the Eastern Conference table after having won six of the eight games heās started this year.
But this isnāt even the best of Lampard yet, according to Vieira.
āI think thereās still more to come because he was out for quite a long time and didnāt have a preseason,ā the NYCFC coach said. āIn the last few weeks, few months, heās been training every single day, didnāt miss any kind of training.ā
Lampardās first season in MLS in 2015 was hampered by injuries and he started his second year rehabbing a calf injury. He missed all of preseason and the first 12 games of the regular season.
Lampard continues, however, to do extra work with the medical staff on his calf to make sure he stays on the field.
āHeās got the experience and he knows his body better than myself and better than even the physios. He knows himself, he knows what he needs during the week,ā Vieira said. āOf course, we do some collective work. He doesnāt miss any kind of training, but his extra work heās doing with the physios, heās doing it by himself and we give him the support he needs.ā