Frank Lampard faces big dilemma ahead of Everton clash v West Ham
Everton will face West Ham in their next Premier League game on Sunday (18 September) at Goodison Park, and Frank Lampard has got a big dilemma here.
The Toffees are yet to secure the first win of their season in the league, but they have shown signs of improvement in their last four games.
After their match against Arsenal was postponed following the passing of the Queen, Lampard has got more time to work with his players on tactics and other stuff.
The Toffees will be without Jordan Pickford for this game. The England international has picked up a thigh injury and has been ruled out of action until after the international break.
Losing a key influential figure is a massive blow, but Lampard may need to hand over the captaincy arm-band to someone else if Seamus Coleman doesn’t feature against the Hammers.
Coleman, the club skipper, picked up an injury in the summer and it disrupted his pre-season training. He is yet to start in any of the league games so far, with Lampard using Nathan Patterson for that role.
The young Scotland right-back has been outstanding so far and has earned rave reviews from his manager and football pundits.
At the moment, he is the first-choice at the club, and Coleman will have to wait for his opportunity. At the back, the pair of James Tarkowski. and Conor Coady have been impressive, and Lampard doesn’t need to change his system to accommodate Coleman.
In such a scenario, Lampard may need to pick up a stand-by captain after Pickford got injured. There are a lot of options, like Tarkowski, Coady or maybe someone like Dominic Calvert-Lewin (if he starts), but it’s a strange headache for the Toffees boss.