Everton: Ray Parlour offers advice to Frank Lampard ahead of Manchester United FA Cup clash
Everton travel to Old Trafford to face Manchester United in the FA Cup on Friday (6 January) and Ray Parlour wants to see a strong Toffees side.
Frank Lampard is desperately trying to find the winning formula at Goodison Park and while the cup often allows for heavy rotation, Parlour thinks this is a chance to gain some confidence for some players.
The Toffees come into the game off the back of a 4-1 defeat at home to Brighton while United took a comfortable 3-0 win against Bournemouth.
“What are Manchester United going to do?” Parlour said on talkSPORT. “They’re looking at the top four so do they rest a few players? I know they’ve got a big squad now but if you’re Frank Lampard, you’ve got to put a strong team out.
“The strongest you’ve got and try to get a result.
“I think the next two games after the FA Cup are the most important for Frank Lampard because he’s got Southampton and West Ham.
“When you look at where they are at the moment, Southampton having a nightmare. They are the games where Lampard will either keep his job or probably lose it.”
Priorities
At this stage in the season, and with his job very much on the line, Lampard should be trying just about anything to try and find that spark that reignite’s the Everton flame.
If that means they have to field a full-strength side in the FA Cup in a bid to garner some confidence in the players then so be it but this is also a chance to see what others can do.
After so many matches this campaign, the boss knows what the usual suspects can offer him but what he doesn’t know yet is whether Ellis Simms can score goals at the top or James Garner can control a game in midfield.
These are questions he needs answers to more than anything else right now and the FA Cup allows him to experiment without major consequences.
As much as supporters would love a deep run in the cup, the future of the club in the Premier League is at stake and that has to take absolute priority.