Frank Lampard should use Everton midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure properly
Everton suffered a massive blow in their race of survival after losing 5-0 against Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Monday night (7 March).
While the defence was shambolic, none of the Toffees players stood up to the plate as Frank Lampard’s poor away record continues to haunt him.
His record at Chelsea away from home wasn’t great, and it seems, the Toffees boss hasn’t learnt from his mistakes yet.
While Everton got what they deserved, Lampard must take a big share of the blame for making a big tactical blunder.
Obviously, he is new to the club and will need time to assess his players. Against Spurs, he totally got it wrong with the position of Abdoulaye Doucoure.
The 29-year-old has been one of the consistent players for the club, and Kevin Campbell feels he could play an “instrumental” role this season.
Rafa Benitez got the best out of him by giving him the freedom to join attacks. However, he is not someone who is an attacking midfielder by nature. The role requires a different skill set. He is not even a linker between midfield and forward line.
Doucoure is a proper central box-to-box midfielder who loves to drive forward and create space for others. He makes those intelligent runs from deep, but that doesn’t mean he would be equally effective while playing in an advanced role.
Lampard must revert to 4-3-3 against Wolves where he must allow Doucoure to play his natural game. Van de Beek or Dele Alli would be a better option for Lampard if he wants to tweak the system to 4-2-3-1.
In other Everton news, a reliable journalist has rubbished claims that the club were set to lose £300million as a result of severing ties with Alisher Usmanov.
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