Deco: Paul Scholes was better than Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard

Former Chelsea star hails Man United great ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea legend.

EX-CHELSEA star Deco has hailed Paul Scholes as the greatest English midfielder he has played against — ahead of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.

Deco, 38, spent two seasons in the Premier League with the Blues, where he played alongside Lampard and against Manchester United great Scholes and Liverpool legend Gerrard.

He told Squawka: “I played with and against so many fantastic players in midfield like Gerrard.

Deco has had his say on the greatest English midfielder he played against

“I had the opportunity to play with Lampard together at Chelsea. I think, because he was a different type of player to all other types of English midfielder, Paul Scholes was the best player that I saw playing for an English midfield and one of the best players in the world.”

And the former Barcelona star believes England’s current crop are missing the likes of Scholes.

He added: “Maybe it’s the generation, but I think this kind of player always exists.

Deco has hailed Paul Scholes as one of the best players he saw play in the world

Steven Gerrard is snubbed despite being a Liverpool legend

“England has a lot of fantastic players. What I say is that in midfield, with his style Scholes could play at any club.”

Deco also played alongside Barca legend Xavi for four seasons between 2004 and 2008.

And the midfielder reckons the emergence of similar players who are great passers of the ball is why possession football has dominated in recent years.

Deco played alongside Frank Lampard at Chelsea

Deco said: “I think at the moment there are some great players like that.

“At Madrid, Modric. Iniesta is still playing. Xavi. In my generation, Paul Scholes was a player like that.

“There are not so many players with this style because I think most of the players are box-to-box, not about controlling the game, keeping the balance of the team.”

MOURINHO BELIEVES CHELSEA LEGEND FRANK LAMPARD WAS BEST PREMIER LEAGUE PLAYER ‘FOR ONE DECADE’

Former Chelsea manager José Mourinho hailed Blues legend Frank Lampard as the best Premier League player for a decade, in a recent interview in Singapore.

The Portuguese visited Singapore recently for business reasons, but caused quite a stir in England after choosing to break his silence regarding speculation about his future. Although Mourinho was typically coy in his responses, he did confirm that he is looking to return to management as soon as possible.

However, the former Chelsea manager also had an opportunity to reflect on his career when Singapore’s Straits Times asked him to name the best player he has coached. The 53-year-old listed several legendary names — one of which was Blues’ great Frank Lampard.

“It is very unfair for me to say that,” said Mourinho, when asked to select his best ever player. “Many times people asked me to do my best team with all the players I have, and I think it’s very unfair. Who was my best player, it’s so hard and so difficult to say, and I coached some of the best players in the world.

“I had incredible players. At Chelsea, in my first period I had Frank Lampard, probably the best player in the Premier League for one decade.”

Mourinho also name-dropped some other iconic names in his answer: “I went to Inter [Milan], I had [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic, I got [Javier] Zanetti. I got to Madrid, I had [Cristiano] Ronaldo. I come back to Chelsea and I find other top players.

“I have so many, they gave me so much, it’s not fair to say this is the one. It’s impossible to win so many things without the players so I respect all of them.”

Lampard’s incredible consistency was invaluable to Chelsea’s cause

Frank Lampard will rightly go down as one of the Premier League’s greatest ever midfielders, but it was his uncanny ability to stay fit and perform at a high standard season after season that was of such value to Chelsea.

The Englishman played a minimum of 30 Premier League games every season between 2001-02 and 2011-12, with the exception of only two campaigns (2007-08 and 2010-11). The goalscoring midfielder also found the back of the net 20 times in all competitions for five consecutive years between 2005 and 2010.

As the player who still holds the record for most number of consecutive Premier League appearances (164) for an outfield player, Lampard is a standard for young midfielders around the country to aspire to. It is easy to understand why Mourinho, as well as the managers before and after him, saw the New York City midfielder as an essential piece in the Chelsea jigsaw.