In what was possibly one of the biggest January transfer signings, Everton picked up their 11th manager since the end of David Moyes’ tenure at the club (including the 2-time Duncan Ferguson and David Unsworth stints), and introduced the still new, fresh-faced Frank Lampard to the dugout as he takes possibly his biggest opportunity of his short-lived managerial career. Prior to joining Everton, he had spent a year out of the game following his departure from Chelsea and in that time had been linked with just about every available job in football. But, with his move to Goodison signed and sealed, it’s now time to see if Lampard can actually deliver at a club in a managerial capacity, as his two previous attempts have been a mixed bag to say the least. Furthermore, joining Everton is no easy feat, as the clubs’ expectations are huge, while they currently sit just outside of a relegation scrap, and with over £500million squandered in the past few years, it’s make or break for the club, and also possibly Frank Lampard as a manager in English football.

So, with that in mind, and with all the buzz and discussion on Everton in this horrific run they are on, I decided to produce a post based on Lampard’s arrival. In this piece we will dissect Lampard as a manager, what he brings, what he expects and what to expect from him, a discussion on their late January transfer business, and then finally preview and predict what could happen with the club and manager by the end of the season.

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*This post was written on the 21st February, giving us enough time to analyse the first few games of his stint at Everton and form a well-rounded opinion.*

Frank Lampard – The Manager…

Frank Lampard has had an unusual start to management, taking the role at Derby which is turning out to be a great introduction to management for Wayne Rooney, and really was for Lampard. Although unable to bring promotion success in his year at the club, he did impress many, and his management brought about the introduction and promotion of Tomori, Mason Mount and Harry Wilson. Although I’m not in any way claiming he ‘discovered’ their talents, he utilised them which has led to great things and a high standing for the likes of Mount who now is a star in Chelsea’s first XI, Tomori is doing his thing at a high level in Italy for AC Milan, and Harry Wilson is highly rated in the Championship. So, what Lampard showed in his first year in management, is to allow youth and experience to blend, using the likes of Ashley Cole, David Nugent, Tom Huddlestone and Richard Keogh alongside the young prospects which resulted in a playoff finish and unfortunately for Lampard a tough loss in the final to an impressive Villa side who remained in the top-flight ever since. It’s a great introduction, and this led to the Chelsea job, the dream job for Lampard, and honestly looking back it was just too soon. I agree with the idea that’s been discussed that he grasped the opportunity because he didn’t know when it would come again, but without the experience of management past 1 season is nowhere near enough to survive the harsh reality of Chelsea. His time at the club where he remains a legend is in no way tarnished by his management spell, as he secured top 4 football despite the transfer embargo and a runners up FA Cup medal alongside. Additionally, he is credited as really building the foundations of the side that Tuchel went on to win the Champions League with after Lampard’s departure, which although he can’t stick it on his CV, does mean something for the job he is in now. Admittedly, I think there’s no chance Lampard would have gone on to win the Champions League that season, however to create the squad that are now World champions is a success whichever way you look at it. The end to his spell at Chelsea wasn’t great, he had issues within the dressing room and above him at boardroom level, with many of his signings being ignored and instead forced to work as part of a committee for transfers rather than complete control. This final point is the most intriguing for what comes next, as we praise Lampard for building the side Chelsea now have, but how much of that was his suggestion, and additionally what will he have to put up with at Everton, where the ownership and board love to involve themselves financially and in bringing in overpaid players with little talent to back it up. Surely this was discussed in the interview stages, but it will be interesting come the summer to see who is given full control.

With all the off-field stuff considered, Lampard on-field has already indicated his way of getting the best from all his squad. He has played a 3-4-3 in 2 of his games so far, and 4-4-2 in the latest 2 matches, which is interesting as it the 4-4-2 does allow Richarlison and DCL to play together, and with a midfield of Iwobi, Allan, VDB, Gordon, Lampard is quite attacking with this 4. I think it will be interesting to see where he settles when Dele Alli is brought in, as he would perhaps struggle in the 4-4-2 so a variation of the 2 formations used thus far could be brought in. Perhaps playing Alli-DCL-Richarlison as the front 3 could utilise everyone to the best of their ability. Another interesting inclusion in all 4 games is Anthony Gordon who has played all the games under Lampard and has been singled out for praise early in his managerial tenure. This inclusion and development of youth means Gordon is clearly high in Lampard’s plans, but again could raise questions of how everything fits together. With only 4 games completed thus far, and 2 wins (1 Premier League, 1 FA Cup), and 2 disappointing defeats to Newcastle and Southampton, the next few league games against Manchester City and Tottenham could be key to showing what Lampard wants and expects, but perhaps could add more questions, as he will surely go defensive against City and perhaps Spurs also. With the FA Cup game sandwiching these fixtures, it might be mid-March against Wolves where we finally see how Lampard will want to play, rather than trying to match the opposition. With Alli expected to play the next game, who will drop out? Donny Van De Beek was disappointing against Southampton so perhaps he could make way, but there must be a way to squeeze the attacking 2, the new arrivals and others such as Gordon into the side without unbalancing attack/defence. Definitely keep an eye out for the next few games to see how Lampard fares against the likes of Guardiola and Conte, and also can he avoid the banana skin of Boreham Wood.

January Window

As mentioned early in the post, the arrival of Frank Lampard on deadline day is perhaps the best piece of business Everton conducted, as we looked at in the previous section, he is a manager to build a long-term project around, give full backing and won’t really be looking for the ‘next best thing’ as they suffered with Ancelotti’s departure. What could be said however, is that really the arrival was all-but confirmed in the week prior to deadline day, whereas the official announcement coming on the final day of the window meant Everton’s late business looked possibly hurried and not as thought out as it could have. So, in the early hours of the 31st, Lampard was announced, shortly followed by the loan arrival of Donny Van De Beek with NO possibility to buy, and then perhaps the strangest transfer structure I’ve seen for a while with the arrival of Dele Alli, who they signed for free, with incentives and bonuses which will likely push the move until £40+million. These add to the previous arrivals of El Ghazi on loan, Nathan Patterson and Vitaliy Mykolenko on permanent moves at right-back and left-back respectively, following the departure of Lucas Digne to Aston Villa early in the window. So, we’ve already broken down Lampard’s signing, and although the earlier signings will be crucial to the setup he creates, we must really talk about the 2 players who we can claim are actually Lampard’s players in VDB and Alli, who both claimed discussions with the manager all-but sealed the deal.

Starting with Donny Van De Beek’s move, anyone who has ever spoken to me about football will know I highly rate VDB as a versatile, feisty and technically talented midfielder who will create chances, play passes that others won’t see, and has an underrated hunger and fight which hasn’t been fully unlocked at Manchester United, but Ajax fans will certainly support. So, does he fit Everton? Is this a good move? Will he finally succeed in English football? Well, honestly, it’s far too early to answer with any certainty, however I really think he will make a huge impact on the Premier League in the short-term loan, and I can strongly see Everton wanting to make a permanent move in the summer which will heavily depend on the new managerial appointment at United, but Everton and Lampard could make him a headline summer signing. There are several reasons why I think he will succeed, firstly he is about to be managed by one of the Premier League’s most impressive talents in VDB’s role, playing in midfield but able to attack and also offer versatility, almost the exact traits Donny offers. I look at this move and think of the development given to Mason Mount in a short spell under Lampard, and VDB has already acknowledged the role of Lampard in getting his signature. Prior to the Lampard move, I thought Donny would be heading to Palace, but now with a coach of Lampard’s standing, it makes such sense to help develop his game, continue growing and settle into the Premier League properly. In addition to this, I believe he will thrive in getting a run of games under his belt, his mediocrity at Manchester United is 100% down to playing time, and the insecurity of his position. Playing high level football when you are confident in getting game time allows less pressure on individuality, and more of a focus on your role within the team setup, whereas his 5 minute cameos at Old Trafford were filled with him almost ‘overworking’ to try and impress with playing optimistic passes or running around carelessly and losing position due to wanting to impress so much in his opportunity. Therefore, getting the faith of the manager for a long-run of games will allow him to gain match sharpness, settle into the league and ultimately find his style in English football. Should he be able to get back to the levels shown at Ajax, Everton have a gem on their hands. My final point on VDB is his distribution and chance creation. If allowed to play in a more natural 8/10 position, he can feed Richarlison and DCL heavily, and they will surely thrive with a playmaker setting them up for chances which is the ultimate aim for a striker. If they are being fed, they will score, and Everton will win (football sounds so simple at times). So, to summarise, Donny VDB will succeed if given a run of games, coached well by Lampard and settles into the system and role Lampard choses for him. If this can happen, and admittedly it’s a big IF, but VDB will be a big signing, and Everton will likely push for a permanent move in the summer window.

The second signing made under Lampard, is Dele Alli, in a permanent move for a hugely talented player who actually has played alongside Lampard on the international stage, however has fallen from the early heights of his career, failing to impress Mourinho, Nuno and now Conte at Tottenham, leading many to speculate that perhaps he is the problem, rather than the system, manager or other circumstances. It comes down to the old adage that if everyone around you is a problem, perhaps it’s you that needs to reflect. Now, with regards to Alli, I do agree with this, as what we see from the player online or in the Spurs documentary, didn’t show the hunger, spark and determination that you would assume a young man in his position would show. However, I now have to rethink this as he has taken the move to Everton. A player who didn’t care about his career going down the pan would have happily sat on the bench at Spurs taking the big pay check, making cameo appearances and ultimately holding out for the next manager in charge, but he hasn’t done this, instead joining a project at Everton with a young exciting manager at the helm, with the potential to be ‘the man’ and not just a support act for Kane and Son. Although the move financially made little/no sense, I can appreciate that Everton think it’s a bargain, whereas Spurs know they’ve saved on big wages, and really will win if he’s successful as Everton will be forced to cough up for big performances and a successful run in the club. So, it’s possibly a great move all-round, and I think he can add massive potential to Everton’s line-up. It’s the midfield where I think Everton are weakest, as their attack is solid with DCL and Richarlison the leading figures, whereas the midfield to supply these two is lacking. At just 25 years of age, a partnership with 24 year old DCL and 24 year old Richarlison could provide 4/5 years of goals for the 3 as a partnership. Depending on how Lampard choses to use Alli, I think just behind a striker like DCL could so easily create the spark that Alli and Kane had in their successful period at Spurs. So, in an attacking perspective, it’s exciting, from financial perspective, it’s interesting, and with Lampard perhaps able to mentor and rebuild all the potential that Alli had shown previously, it could be a measure of success for a young manager/coach in the early stages of their career. He has been credited with giving Mason Mount the springboard, and could have a similar success with Dele Alli which will drag Everton up the table and provide each party a form of success. Ultimately, the two signings he has made in his first day, are fantastic, as they aren’t financially costly and he can’t be judged on ‘overspending’, while he has already identified and rectified the weakest positions on the pitch, and although we are yet to see how he fits VDB, Alli into the side alongside DCL and Richarlison, if he finds a way to do this, Everton will have defenders trembling.

With these two big names joining, there’s little/no room for excuses of joining late in the window for Lampard. As we have already mentioned, not having longer to scout and pinpoint weaker areas within the team is obviously an issue with joining a club on deadline day, however with the clubs’ backing to bring in 2 big talents in the final hours, and with a squad with some gems in there, Lampard doesn’t have the excuse many previous managers starting out would look to fall back on. Additionally, as we mentioned in our Lampard section, he has proven to work in clubs without any incomings at all as Chelsea operated in his first season with their transfer embargo, thus showing he can promote from within and use the resources at hand, even if the off-field downfall at Chelsea came from transfer sagas and disagreements.

Preview/Predictions

At time of writing, Everton sit 16th in the table on 23 games played and 22 points. Just ahead of them is Leeds United on 23 points from 24 games, and just behind is Newcastle United on 22 points from 24 games (and worse GD). So, with 15 games to go, and a very favourable FA Cup 5th round tie on the horizon against Boreham Wood, where do Everton finish?

Well, for me, I think I still sit in the camp that Everton have too much quality in their best XI to get dragged into the relegation scrap, however the same could be said of Newcastle just behind them, or of Leeds under Bielsa’s magic, or of the bottom 3 who all have been picking up points in recent weeks. So, Everton on paper are too good to go down, but on the pitch currently, could easily drop through the places quickly. However, I do not see Everton dropping as many points as those around them, I think they should be expecting Newcastle to possibly leapfrog them in the near future, as they are spending their way to safety, however I think as that happens, Everton should be pushing to leapfrog and overtake both Leeds, Brentford and possibly even Crystal Palace (although they have sporadically impressed). So, should all these expected moves happen in the table, Everton should be aiming for about 15th in the league realistically, and avoid any speculation of being dragged into the fight. I think the bottom 3 as they are now are still my strong favourites to face the drop, however I think it’s Brentford who perhaps are my next choice to fall in, as although in 14th, have played several games more and have struggled in 2022 to pick up points. Another bad run from them, and those around picking up points in games in hand and suddenly it doesn’t look so simple. Everton however should be pushing up, and I honestly believe they can pick up at least 12-15 points despite facing a horrible run of games. This should be enough to get them to 37-40 points which I think will see them safe for another year, with the bottom 3 yet to make 20 points at this stage of the season. It’s not hugely optimistic, but it’s realistic for Lampard and Everton, and actually to spin this positively, it’s a good reality check for Everton, who have splashed cash and had some great managers at the helm recently, and perhaps with this has come some naivety and complacency that they will never go down and struggle, whereas for Lampard to save them from a relegation scrap will be success, a new experience for the manager who had been challenging at the top in his two previous roles. Therefore, to come in and stabilise the club this year would be a great start, and something they can build on gradually with youth and perhaps extra cash when available, but slow steady progress as opposed to hitting a money ‘cheat code’ to get up the table. In more optimistic terms, the FA Cup run does look very possible with perhaps the ‘easiest’ on paper draw although the banana skin and risk is high should they struggle or fall at his hurdle. Despite this, I expect Everton to continue to the next round, and with the right draw they could get themselves to Wembley in at least a semi-final. A good cup run, and safe from relegation is what I predict, and if Lampard can pull it off, he will have my huge respect and I’m sure that of the Everton faithful. If he can…