Frank Lampard is out of his depth at Everton but he needs support
When Frank Lampard joined Everton back in January, many believed that the only way was up after how bad Rafa Benitez’s tenure had been at Goodison Park.
Everton were sitting in the bottom third of the table and wrestling with a potential relegation battle, but the idea was that Lampard would come in and get the players to perform at a higher level that would be enough to save them.
While he ultimately achieved that goal, we saw all the flaws of Lampard’s management skills during his four and a half months in the job that had plenty worried for the 2022/23 season straight away.
As we approach the new Premier League season, fans are worried. Not just because of one reason, but for a plethora of problems they can see that aren’t being addressed.
Financially the club are in ruins, and that’s despite the £60m sale of star man Richarlison to Tottenham earlier in the window.
The opening game of the season against Chelsea is less than two weeks away, and despite a barrage of rumours about the club being interested in players not a single signing has arrived where a fee has been paid.
In fact only one signing has arrived at all, with James Tarkowski signing on a free transfer from Burnley. His performances in pre-season have been good, but the team still looks shoddy under Lampard.
The Toffees were played off the park against Arsenal in a 2-0 defeat, and then embarrassed 4-0 by Minnesota United too. A 4-2 win over Blackpool was better, but there were still glaring defensive problems.
Tactically Lampard has a lot to learn. He wants to be able to play possession football with an emphasis on pace and attacking, but he isn’t able to execute that with these players.
His alternative is to go very defensive with five at the back and two defensive minded midfielders, but he doesn’t have the players for that either realistically.
This is where Farhad Moshiri comes in, or doesn’t, probably more aptly.
To cover for Lampard’s tactical inefficiencies, he needs quality players to help carry the load. He doesn’t have those either.
The transfer window has seen plenty of exciting names linked to the club like Morgan Gibbs-White and Maxwel Cornet, yet no progress has been made on any signings. Moshiri and Kevin Thelwell need to get their finger out and start really working on getting business done before the season starts.
The alternative? Another season where Everton are battling at the bottom of the league, with Lampard probably leaving midway through either on his own accord or because the board panic.
Lampard isn’t the manager to take the club where it should be, battling for European places and going on cup runs. But the performance of this squad isn’t down to him entirely, and without support from those above him it’s unlikely to change.