Rio Ferdinand discusses Everton ‘problem’, ‘crazy’ fixtures in relegation battle
Rio Ferdinand says Everton are ‘right in the thick of a relegation battle’ and thinks survival looks hard with their fixtures when speaking on Vibe with Five.
The Toffees suffered yet another defeat at the weekend against Wolves, meaning they’ve lost four of six under Frank Lampard and are now only outside the relegation zone on goal difference.
Ferdinand was asked about his former teammate’s situation on his podcast and admitted the Blues have a ‘problem’ right now that will be tough to get out of.
“It’s a problem right now,” he said. “They’ve got no momentum, can’t score a goal, can’t buy a goal right now. Aren’t keeping clean sheets.
“The problem they had at the weekend, other than Burnley they all bloody got results. Watford, Brentford, Leeds with a late goal. It’s crazy down there, so it’s tightened right up.
“Everton are right in the thick of a relegation battle.”
After their fixtures were mentioned, Ferdinand admitted it looked rough.
“Ahh, it’s crazy,” he added. “Crazy. It’s deep for them. It’s going to be hard.”
Home truths
Everton are in serious, serious trouble and their Premier League status is in major doubt right now.
Everything that Ferdinand said is true. They’re struggling for goals, can’t keep a clean sheet for love nor money and Lampard just hasn’t made the squad click in the way they wanted him to.
In the next five fixtures, the Toffees will play against Newcastle, West Ham, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea and with the way they’re currently playing it’s more than realistic, they lose them all.
That could see the end of it all even before they take on Leicester, Brentford and Arsenal in the final three games of the season.
Lampard needs to figure it out quickly because fans are losing hope at a rapid rate and if the fans go then the players will have next to no hope of turning it all around.
In other Everton news, ‘Toxic’ – Micah Richards shares verdict on Everton as relegation battle gets intense