talkSPORT pundit heaps pressure on Frank Lampard as Everton face new Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui
Frank Lampard has more pressure on him than Julen Lopetegui as Everton face Wolves on the return from the World Cup break, says Ray Parlour.
The former Spain and Real Madrid boss won his first game in charge at Molineux, in the Carabao Cup against Gillingham on Tuesday night (21 December), ahead of the trip to Goodison Park on Boxing Day.
Everton went into the international break in miserable form and sit 17th in the Premier League, but their opponents couldn’t be worse off in being rooted to the foot of the table, yet Parlour is more worried for the Toffees boss than that new arrival.
Speaking live on talkSPORT on Wednesday morning (21 December, 6.38am) Parlour said of Wolves: “They’ll be concentrating on this weekend, they probably need at least a draw away from home and that’ll be a decent result if they go to Everton.
“Obviously the manager will be saying, ‘Look let’s try and go get three points,’ same as Frank Lampard. There’s a little bit more pressure on Frank if I’m being honest.
“New manager coming into Wolves. Sometimes it’s difficult to play against new managers. There’s always a bit of a lift that a club gets from new managers.
“So more pressure will be on Frank getting the three points at Goodison Park.”
Must win
Everton fans will be feeling pretty edgy that it’s not even 2023 yet and games against relegation-threatened sides are already looking like six-pointers.
It was only five games ago that everything came together to see the Toffees comfortably dispatch Crystal Palace 3-0 at Goodison (22 October), suggesting that the club were heading in the right direction.
But the wheels swiftly fell off after that, without another goal in the top flight since, Dominic Calvert-Lewin injured again, and fans unsurprisingly unimpressed with back-to-back three-goal defeats at Bournemouth.
So, after a unique midseason lay-off there is a sizeable need to lift the atmosphere around the club with a positive result at the first opportunity.
The worst team in the league at home seems like the ideal opposition to provide that, but the addition of Lopetegui to the equation does change things.
With Conor Coady also unable to play against his parent club there is enough to concern Lampard, but all the same this is a game that should have three points written all over it wherever his side are in the table.
Struggle in this one and the worrying signs before the World Cup will come screaming back onto centre stage, and the January transfer window will become key, but there have been some encouraging signs during the break with the likes of Anthony Gordon and youngsters Isaac Price and Tom Cannon, so a lift in the form of three points would be very welcome.