Frank is cut out to be Sven's diamond

"It's not Lampard's natural position, nor his best position, but he could play on the left," said Platt. "You wouldn't get from him what you would from, say, a wide player like Ryan Giggs but he could tuck in when Scholes goes forward, or play at the point of a diamond formation.

"In fact, the thing about Lampard is that he's capable of playing every single position in the diamond formation, including the anchor role. You couldn't say that about every midfield player could you?"

Platt knows a thing or two about playing in midfield for England. Now manager of the Under-21 side, he scored a remarkable 27 goals in 62 matches, putting him alongside Bryan Robson and Martin Peters as one of England's greatest goalscoring midfielders.

"Frank has always been a good passing player who got from box to box but the move to Chelsea has put his game on a different level," said Platt. "He was a very good player at West Ham but when they played Arsenal, Manchester United or Liverpool no one really expected them to win.

"Going to Chelsea has made him realise that he can compete successfully at a higher level. He's tried it and discovered there's nothing to be afraid of. When you know you can perform well at a higher level you actually demand more of yourself. Your personal expectation levels are higher.

"He expects to finish on the winning side each week. He knows he's now the main component in a winning team. He's playing with assurance. He's saying to the opposition, 'I'm going to have a big effect on this game and if you want to stop me you've got to compete at my level.'

"It's working out well for him now. It's all coming to fruition. I scored a lot of goals from midfield but I think Frank is a more complete midfield player than I was. I didn't do as much as he does in terms of getting involved in the build-up play.

"Some of the long attacking runs I made to get in a scoring position would be considered a bit risky today. I needed someone to cover me.

"If you're a midfield player vacating your position as often as I did you're going to get exposed in the modern game and concede a lot of goals.

"Frank holds his position well and still looks capable of scoring 15 goals a season. Every serious Championship side needs a striker who's going to get 20-25 and then a back-up goalscorer. Well, that's the job Frank does so well for Chelsea."

Lampard - whose career continues to be closely monitored by his father, Frank, who played for West Ham - acknowledges the debt he owes his team-mates at Stamford Bridge.

"Many players at Chelsea have achieved great things in the game," he said. "If you take a little from each of them you improve yourself not just as a footballer but as a person too."

Ranieri, who has shown such faith in Lampard, said: "I feel like Michelangelo. If the marble is good I can improve the player. I like to think I have helped to improve Frank. Yes, I think he should play for England, but I'm not Eriksson."