Jody Morris shares view on Everton inconsistency and Dele Alli under Frank Lampard
Frank Lampard has been tipped to do “really well” at Everton but has to overcome a lack of time to get his ideas across to his players, says Jody Morris.
Goodison Park has seen two rousing wins under the new manager but his side have also gone down to two poor away defeats in his four games so far, and his former assistant at Derby and Chelsea thinks it is taking some time to change the style of play from Rafael Benitez’s.
The former Chelsea player also believes his ex-colleague is the “perfect person” to mentor January signing Dele Alli, due to his exploits as a player.
The 43-year-old told talkSPORT’s Laura Woods, in a discussion shown on the station’s YouTube channel: “If you’ve watched the games, they’re kind of brilliant or really poor, but I think having to follow someone whose style is not the same as Frank’s [is hard].
“The hardest thing for Frank is he’s having to do it midseason, you don’t get the pre-season to be able to work with the players”.
On the Toffee’s transfer window acquisition he said: “If you were to pick the perfect person for someone to work with you’d probably pick Frank, the type of player he was.
“He’s done great with people like Mason Mount but I think Dele Alli comes into that bracket of a player who should be arriving in the box and doing better, and Frank was the best ever for that”.
Kind words
It appears that the issue among the players currently is as much psychological as tactical.
The coaching of Lampard and his staff has lead to two exciting and positive home wins, but the almost exact opposite has resulted from the pair of away trips.
The mental boost of the Goodison support is the primary difference between the two, since it’s unlikely the new boss has entirely failed to set up his team for the threats posed by Newcastle and Southampton while comfortably outwitting Brentford and Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds.
It is true that any manager coming in midseason has to get things going on the fly, but it is odd that the new manager bounce is so pronounced at home and nonexistent away.
If the pattern continues it may be enough to get the club through to the summer and give the manager the preseason to work with the players.
Morris is bound to have a positive assessment of Lampard’s abilities but there have been some positive signs so far.
Getting the best out of Dele would be a huge bonus if he can succeed where the last three Tottenham managers failed.
It seems obvious to make the comparison between Lampard the player and the new man in midfield, but there is much more too it than just similarity.
His positive influence on Mount, one of the young crop who took the ex-Spurs man’s place in the England team, is a much greater indicator of his ability as a coach, although the difference between leaving an impression on a young player and a long-established one may be significant.
In other Everton news, Bill Kenwright has shared some notable insight into the new stadium development.
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