Anthony Gordon is ‘surprised’ by ‘unbelievable’ Frank Lampard at Everton
Anthony Gordon has lauded his new Everton manager Frank Lampard as a “tactical genius” for the impact he has had since arriving at the club.
The former Chelsea boss has won two of his three games in charge, with both victories coming at Goodison Park, and youngster Gordon has been a particular beneficiary after a strong showing in the 3-0 win over Leeds at the weekend.
The Toffees blew their famously hard-working opponents away with a high-intensity performance to provide only a second league win since September.
The Telegraph reports the winger said, via the Daily Mail: “He is a tactical genius and I am thriving off that. I’m learning from him every day, stuff I hadn’t heard before.
“I feel the trust he has got in me. He tells me daily.
“He is an unbelievable manager and he has surprised me, really, with how good he is tactically.
“It was those little details, for us to be faster and more aggressive. He wanted to push us higher up the pitch and while it might not seem a lot, those little details go a really long way in a game like this.
Proving himself
The jury has been out on ex-Derby manager’s tactical acumen through his coaching career so far.
Detractors like to point out that he took a Rams side with an expensive wage bill to the same position as his predecessor Gary Rowett, and ultimately was not promoted.
He is then seen to have failed when handed a record-breaking transfer haul at Chelsea in his second season at Stamford Bridge, a team that Thomas Tuchel then won the Champions League with.
But his performance when forced to rely only on coaching in his first season in West London was better, operating under a transfer ban and securing a top-four finish and an FA Cup final appearance.
His major success was to bring through a generation of young stars including Mason Mount and Reece James.
So perhaps reduced resources and the chance to work with emerging talent like Gordon is the 43-year-old’s managerial sweet spot.
If the performance of Donny van de Beek in the Leeds victory is anything to go by however the new boss is no fool in the market, having personally intervened to secure what looks to be a gem of a signing.
Fans will be hoping for much more of the Goodison Park excitement, and less of the limp showing at Newcastle over the rest of the season.
In other Everton news, one Toffee has received strong backing from talkSPORT hosts for avoiding a pub brawl that broke out after he was taunted.