Three things Everton (and Chelsea) fans can expect from Frank Lampard
By Travis Tyler
3. Passion that sometimes comes with a price
Lampard’s passion for Chelsea was always expected, but he threw himself into the job at Derby County with the same intensity. He has to. A manager can’t demand a high intensity style of play and not be that intense themselves.
Benitez may have desperately wanted to be at Everton, but he is always a calm manager that is reflected in his playing style. Lampard would come in and demand far more of the players and he would show that himself. Expect players to suddenly play like their lives are on the line and to have an animated manager in the dugout egging them on.
But sometimes that passion comes with a price. Lampard accepts no one going against the cause of the club. When Marcos Alonso reacted to a half time subbing by going to the bus instead of the bench, he was exiled until Lampard was sacked. When Lampard and Antonio Rudiger butted heads, Lampard made sure to push Rudiger closer to the exit door than into the team. Lampard wants his commitment to the club to be matched by his players and if he is given any reason to doubt a player’s commitment, that is it for them.
In a sense, that might be good for Everton. Everton is one of the many Frankenstein squads assembled through a mishmash of manager ideas that contradict one another. They could use a clearing out and some reorganization and Lampard won’t shy away from pushing the players that don’t suit him out the door. Whether or not Everton can fill those holes in ways that makes sense is up in the air, however, as their transfer business has been all over the place regardless of who is manager.
At the best times, Lampard will spur the side on to better things. But when things get bad, as they did at Chelsea, things may get very bad as it becomes more and more of an us against them. Lampard’s had plenty of time to step back and review his own strengths and weaknesses over the last year, so the best Everton can hope for is that he figured out a way to escape a rut. He’ll inevitably end up at one with Everton and if he cannot escape, that will be that just like it always is.
dark. Next. Where does Chelsea midfielder Tino Anjorin go from here?
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