Who was the best out of Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes and Frank Lampard? Wayne Rooney settles debate

Former Manchester United player Wayne Rooney has finally settled the Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Paul Scholes debate. Football fans have been arguing for ages over who was the best English midfielder of the time when all three played together for their respective clubs and the England national team.  

Rooney, a former teammate of all three players whilst playing for England has now put his weight behind Gerrard while giving the other two midfielders their fair due. 

"Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are all different. As an all-rounder, Stevie is the best; he can defend, pass the ball, run, tackle, score goals, set pieces. As an all-rounder he’s the best from that point of view," Rooney told Gary Neville on the latest episode of The Overlap.

While Gerrard did not have the same trophy cabinet as the other two, he showed his class day in and out, playing in a struggling Liverpool side for the major part of his career.  

The United striker later talked in length about Lampard's goal-scoring ability and how out of the three, he was the best at finding the back of the net. 

"From a goalscoring point of view, Lamps [Frank Lampard] was the best. The goals he scored were incredible from midfield and technically he wasn’t at Stevie or Scholesy’s level but there was no-one better at scoring goals from midfield," said Rooney. 

As for Scholes, Rooney added; "Scholesy, the way he adapted [made him amazing]. He was a striker when he was younger so to go to a ten, then midfield then a deeper midfielder dictating the game, I don’t think either of the other two [Gerrard or Lampard] could dictate a game the way he could."

"All were world-class players. Stevie could come to Manchester United and be a top player and do what Scholes could do. But I don’t think Scholes could do what Stevie did at Liverpool."

Scholes in a recent interview also put Gerrard above him saying the Liverpool midfielder was an athlete who was more of a "match-winner that he was". 

“I was more part of a team, he was more individual, I think," added Scholes. 

Despite having three of the best midfielders in their prime, England never won a major trophy as the managers could never field the midfield with the perfect balance.