Okay, where were we? Police and stewards had formed a cordon to separate angry fans from angry players, Jordan Pickford was hauled off in a scuffle, Alex Iwobi gave his shirt to a supporter and returned it to him, and Frank Lampard raised his arms in apology after a second anemic defeat at Bournemouth within five days. We open with Everton in trouble again.
Six weeks is plenty of time to reflect on events on the south coast, where Everton’s collapse in form was met with an ugly display of collapse in support of Lampard’s side. One of the main positives of the Everton manager’s 11-month reign has been the reconnection between the crowd and the players after the divisive days of Rafael Benitez and the disillusionment that preceded his absurd appointment.
The union was crucial to the club’s survival in the Premier League last season. To see him crumble at the Vitality Stadium was confirmation that goodwill has limits and that Lampard must quickly correct his form to avoid another relegation-threatened campaign. The visit of bottom-of-the-table Wolves on Boxing Day is loaded with significance ahead of the trip to Manchester City on New Year’s Eve.
“I never thought it couldn’t happen at a football club like ours,” the Everton manager said of the Bournemouth riot. “When you come to a club with passionate fans, you as a player or I as a manager have to shoulder the ability to cope with a great side – which I say how amazing it is that 45,000 fans turned up and helped improve the performance against Chelsea last season – or fans who want to say Bournemouth weren’t good enough.
“I agree. It wasn’t good enough. There’s somewhere in the middle where we need to strike a better balance because we need each other if we want to be successful. I feel it’s the responsibility of the players to play at a higher level of energy and intensity because that’s always the first requirement and the fans will support them. I have no doubt about that. They’ve shown us that before. We have a responsibility there.”
Frank Lampard is looking to add to his attack in January with options other than missing Anthony Gordon. Photo: Tony McArdle/Everton/Getty Images
Lampard has never hidden his belief that this season will be problematic, or that it will take more than one transfer window to right the many wrongs of the Farhad Moshiri era (not his words, of course). Likewise, Everton’s patience didn’t run out just because of two poor results at Bournemouth, where Lampard’s 11 changes for the Carabao Cup tie failed in a 4-1 reverse before a 3-0 loss in the Premier League.
“This is Everton and we’re not representing them as a team at the moment,” said a dejected Conor Coady, who is ineligible to face his parent club on Boxing Day. Backers who made two round trips totaling more than 1,000 miles in five days would agree. Everton are one place and one point above the relegation zone as a result of five defeats in seven league games ahead of the World Cup. They have failed to score in five of those fixtures, which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise for a club that sold last season’s leading scorer Richarlison, put too much faith in Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s recovery from injury and only added Neil Maupai to their attacking ranks options in the summer.
However, there is an acknowledgment from the top that the manager needs support in January and a new striker – or two – is a priority. But it won’t be easy. Atletico Madrid’s Mateus Cunha was considered before Wolves blew Everton out of the water with a loan deal with an obligation to buy for more than £40m next summer. Mohamed Qudus has been in demand since the summer, but the temptation for Ajax to sell a player who has since improved his reputation in the Champions League and World Cup would require a significant fee.
“We were very aware of the player,” Lampard said of Cunha. “He’s a really interesting player but his numbers are high and Wolves, to be fair, made a decision to go for him. Everyone has to operate within different parameters and this was not a parameter for us to operate within.
“It’s not easy, but that’s our job and the job of recruitment is to find the right players to help us now. Do we need help at the top end of the pitch? yes We are fully aware of this. But it’s not easy to do because it’s a tough market in January. I think we can rent and buy – we will look at both – but I want the players to improve us now, not just come in and be players in the team. They have to come and help us.”
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