Joe Cole has ‘no doubt’ Frank Lampard can keep Everton up
Joe Cole has admitted he has “no doubt” that Frank Lampard will keep Everton in the Premier League amid terrible form.
The Blues were knocked out of the FA Cup yesterday after their embarrassing 4-0 defeat to Crystal Palace, shifting all of their attention to Premier League survival.
Cole branded the Selhurst Park cup clash as a distraction after a huge result for the Toffees in the league last time out.
He said on ITV [March 20, 2:20pm]: “It’s certainly a very difficult time for everyone at the football club.
“Frank has come into the club – and I don’t think walking in through the door, he’d have realised how difficult it is going to be.
“There are five or six players there who are really low on confidence. When you’re in a relegation battle, the fundamentals they were getting wrong, the decision-making on the pitch.
“I know Frank and I know his team. He’ll be drilling them and drilling them.
“This has been a distraction in a way because they had that massive win on Thursday night that lifted the whole place and you probably want to roll into another Premier League game and get some momentum.
“But I have no doubt he will steer them out of it and they’ll be fine.”
Disappointing
It is understandable why people would brand the FA Cup game a distraction, especially after the loss.
Everton do have bigger fish to fry in terms of Premier League survival but yesterday was a great chance to give the whole club a massive lift.
It isn’t often the Blues get the chance to play in a semi-final at Wembley and if they would have won yesterday, everyone would be calling it a nice distraction.
Instead, Lampard, the players and most definitely the fans are now feeling deflated after such a poor result with so much at stake.
Make no mistake, avoiding relegation is the former Chelsea boss’ number one priority but he would have been desperate to cause an upset in the cup.
The Toffees haven’t won a trophy since 1995 and Lampard would have solidified himself as a legend at the club if he was the man to end that bleak run.
A couple of trips to Wembley and the morale of winning a trophy could have carried Everton across the line in the league but now they only have to focus on their key 11 league games that remain.
In other Everton news, View: Abdoulaye Doucoure should be dropped after having a stinker v Crystal Palace.
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