By George Overhill

9th Nov, 2022 | 1:40pm

Everton boss Frank Lampard compared to Donald Trump as pressure rises after Bournemouth

Frank Lampard is like Donald Trump in the way he takes credit for Everton wins and distances himself when they lose, according to Jonathan Liew.

The award-winning Guardian journalist make the comparison as the Toffees boss criticisedhis players following the 4-1 Carabao Cup defeat at Bournemouth, while the former American president commented on the US mid-term elections on Tuesday night (8 November).

Lampard changed the full XI for the trip to the Vitality and was not pleased with players he had given opportunities to, telling talkSPORT: “When players train and they ask if they can get in the team, they’re paid well by Everton, well come on and show us what you can do – that was the story tonight.

“At both ends of the pitch you can work and work, but if you make those mistakes repetitively, then that’s probably why you’re not in the squad.”

Meanwhile, a parody-exhausting Trump literally said on NewsNation of candidates he’d endorsed for the elections: “I think if they win I should get all the credit, and if they lose I should not be blamed at all”.

Liew responded to the clip on his personal Twitter account to simply say “frank lampard”.

Responsibility

It can’t be denied that a team full of Premier League players and internationals shouldn’t be responding to their opportunity in the Everton team by flopping to a 4-1 defeat at a much-changed Bournemouth.

And Lampard can be justifiably unhappy with what he saw, but it is fair to raise the question of how much responsibility he and his coaching staff have to take for that.

He would be on a much surer footing to publicly criticise his squad if recent results were strong in the league with his first XI, but with the exception of the glittering 3-0 defeat of Crystal Palace on 22 October they haven’t been.

That is now the only win in the last seven in all competitions, and while the Toffees boss is perhaps put under the spotlight too quickly when the team hits a bad patch, it isn’t the first time he has turned on his players to the media either.

It’s not uncommon for players as good as the former Chelsea star to find it difficult to accept why players under them as coaches are not of the same quality.

And Lampard has done a better job than most outside of the Everton fanbase give him credit for, but there is also frustration among the supporters that he appears to have sacrificed the cup run with his team selection this week.

Clearly, he is not in the same realm as Trump in failing to take responsibility, but having attacked his players following the 4-0 FA Cup exit last season 20 March, it might not be wise to be doing so again right now when galvanising the squad as the fans did during the relegation battle is surely productive.