Frank Lampard fires backhanded dig at Rafa Benitez over Everton tactics
Everton boss Frank Lampard has handed Rafa Benitez a backhanded dig with criticism of the Blues’ tactics.
The former Chelsea midfielder came in to replace the Spaniard after just six months in charge at Goodison Park.
Lampard called for patience as he looks to impose his own tactics on the Toffees players.
“It is not for me to analyse why,” he said, via the ECHO.
“When you look at the possession we were having, the territory we were having in games, the high intensity and how far you can keep it away from your goal and how high you can win it back up the pitch if those things are down it is hard to win football matches.”
“I want to come in and improve those things. That doesn’t mean going from a team that is one of the more direct teams in the league to being this beautiful possession-based team in two seconds.”
Outdated
Lampard and Benitez couldn’t be any further apart in terms of tactics if they tried.
In all honesty, the former Blues boss’ tactics are very outdated, and you would struggle to find many successful modern-day managers playing in such a negative way, hence the shocking results.
It worked early in the season when Benitez had all of his best players fit and firing but without the Toffees’ key men the team’s form quickly hit rock bottom with no tactical adaptations insight.
Lampard wants to play free-flowing, high intensity, possession-based football which will be hard for these players to adapt to having more or less lumping the ball whilst staying in their ‘robust’ shape under Benitez.
The players will need time but once the message has been understood, the Blues’ form should turn around quite quickly.
Everton have an abundance of quality players and it is about time we start playing to their strengths.
In other Toffees news, Teddy Sheringham urges Everton ace Dele Alli to take hard look at himself.