Leon Osman sends message to Everton squad ahead of crucial Southampton encounter
Leon Osman has urged the “characters” and “leaders” in the Everton squad must stand up and take initiative as the club faces another relegation battle.
It’s been another campaign of underachievement at Goodison Park, as Frank Lampard could yet face another needless relegation scrap down at the bottom of the Premier League.
The Toffees find themselves in the drop zone, with just 15 points picked up from 18 Premier League games, and the club face a potentially season-defining clash this weekend, against fellow strugglers Southampton on home turf.
As the Blues prepare to end a dismal run of three straight losses and one win from their last 12 in the league, former midfielder Osman has urged the whole club to stick together and that the leaders in Lampard’s squad must stand up and be counted.
Speaking to Liverpool Echo [13 January] ahead of the game, he said: “You need characters and you need leaders. Some of the characters will need to be leaders and some of the characters will just need to be fun.
“Some of the characters will need to be light-hearted and fun for a bit of a distraction and to take the pressure off. So there are different characters needed.
“So hopefully our squad has got them all because as I have said it is a difficult time and they need to stick together. They need to be positive.
“Even members of staff can be crucial at times like this. But we have shown we are capable of getting performances and results and bouncing back from situations.”
Defining weeks ahead
These are defining weeks ahead for Lampard and his men as yet another Premier League campaign could well end in disappointment. It is indeed a sorry sight, that a club as big as the Toffees are facing yet another battle to beat the drop for the second season running.
The pressure is on Lampard to deliver, especially seeing as he had major backing last summer to improve the squad, but yet, the same issues in regards to lack of quality and character in the squad still linger.
Indeed, the character and leaders in Lampard’s squad must stick together and help to get the club out of trouble.
The club will desperately be relying on the likes of Conor Coady, Jordan Pickford and Seamus Coleman to lead them through a crucial period in the season.
Though any sort of turnaround or success the Toffees enjoy this season, may hinge on their activities in the current window, it is evidently clear Lampard needs more backing to improve an ailing and aimless squad.
Whether Lampard will be given the resources and funds to do so is another matter entirely, but Saturday’s clash against Southampton is indeed a six-pointer, and if Everton’s losing run continues this weekend, there may well be no way back for the former Chelsea boss.