Frank Lampard’s inexperience exposed as Everton are outclassed by Tottenham
Everton are just a point above the relegation zone and that is enough evidence of how bad they have been in the Premier League this season. The Toffees got rid of Rafa Benitez in January, replacing the Spaniard with Frank Lampard but the team are still largely fragile.
Lampard’s difficult start to life at Goodison Park was made worse on Monday when his side suffered a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur. Everton were completely outplayed and the result leaves them with a meagre tally of 22 points after 25 Premier League games. This is the club’s lowest tally at this stage of a top-flight season.
FT. https://t.co/wU3znXNX9W
Everton outclassed by Spurs
The clock had ticked to 39 minutes of play when Lampard’s former Chelsea teammate John Terry tweeted, “This could be six.”
Everton were 3-0 down by then – following an own goal from Michael Keane and further strikes from Heung-Min Song and Harry Kane – and were playing like a side that had already given up.
Terry’s prediction may not have come to pass but a 5-0 hammering is as damning as it comes. The Toffees were totally outclassed by a Spurs side that had lost four of their last six league matches.
Not to take anything away from Antonio Conte’s side but Everton’s sloppiness and lethargy made them look like a world-class team. The Toffees have a decent squad. However, they are currently disjointed and will get ripped apart by most teams if they keep playing this poorly.
Everton have failed to have a shot on target in each of their last two away games in the Premier League:
◉ 0 vs. Southampton
◉ 0 vs. Tottenham
Frank has a lot of work to do. 😳 https://t.co/oDi4vQZfmU
Lampard’s inexperience exposed
As much as individual players made mistakes that cost the team, Lampard’s reactivity instead of being proactive also did not help. After falling 3-0 behind in the first half, any manager worth his salt would have made substitutions to bring stability to a midfield that was non-existent.
However, the Toffees boss made like-for-like changes and kept playing on the front foot, allowing Tottenham to continue cutting through his side with little opposition. Lampard said after the game, as quoted by the Daily Mail.
“I am confident but that doesn't mean anything. I didn't walk into the building with a magic wand. I am absolutely confident, that is why I am here. The feeling at this club when I came here was we could be going down."
"It was clear around the city, it was up to me to change that and I thought we had changed that. But this is a test of that. Individual errors led to goals which took the game away from us and the reaction was not good enough. It was the reaction of a team used to losing away from home. We need to sort it out.”
Lampard’s inexperience was badly exposed by Tottenham on Monday. The former Chelsea man clearly has a lot to learn if he is to transform Everton into the competitive side they once were.