Leon Osman urges Everton board to sign more creativity in January window
Leon Osman has admitted that the Everton players are on a “different page” this season and has urged the Toffees board to sign more creative players this month.
Everton find themselves in a precarious position in the Premier League table currently, needing just a single goal to get out of the drop zone in 18th place on 15 points.
Frank Lampard’s floundering attack has been a major contributing factor to their dreadful form, only just scoring 15 goals in all competitions and 14 in the English top flight.
Frank Lampard clearly needs some backing during the January window, and the club have been linked with some attacking reinforcements with loan moves for Manchester United forward Anthony Elanga [GiveMeSport, 1 January] and Villarreal’s Arnaut Danjuma [Daily Mail, 10 January] in the past week.
Speaking to the Liverpool Echo [12 January], Osman has urged Lampard to find the right formula to get their attack on song, and has admitted that the club desperately needs creative additions.
He said: “We have to try and find a way of scoring goals without over-exposing ourselves defensively. And that has been pretty much the story for us so far this season.
“We have got wingers that stay wide but don’t necessarily want to deliver the ball into a big striker who wants crosses.
“We just seem like we are on a different page at the moment. I do think we need creative players, maybe goalscoring midfielders that get forward to support the striker.
“At times our striker is isolated and you are not going to hurt the opposition if your forward is isolated. But I just think we need a striker and I do think we need a goalscoring midfielder or someone creative.”
Correct assessment
Goals certainly win you games, and that’s what the Toffees are in desperate need of right now.
14 Premier League goals in 18 games certainly isn’t indicative of the attacking talent Lampard possesses in his squad currently, and more will need to be done tactically to get them firing again for the remainder of the campaign.
Anthony Gordon, Demarai Gray, Dwight McNeil and Dominic Calvert-Lewin all have creative talent and goals in them but their inconsistency is getting the best of them, which means they’ll need help and the additions of Danjuma and Elanga could go a long way to addressing a desperate need this month.
The former has developed into one of Europe’s most explosive attackers since his move to Villarreal in August 2021, bagging 22 goals in 51 games for the Yellow Submarine and his goal-scoring exploits are what’s required at Goodison Park.
A creative midfielder to help Alex Iwobi is certainly needed also, a player who can not only create chances for others but also score them himself. A player in the mould of Lampard in his playing days, but locating that sort of talent this month will be increasingly difficult.
However, the pressure is on the Toffees board to deliver the players Lampard feels he needs to get them out of this mess.