Earlier this week, Everton announced the appointment of Frank Lampard as their new manager on a two-and-a-half-year deal.
The former Chelsea man succeeds Rafa Benitez, who was at Goodison Park for less than seven months, and left the club four points above the relegation zone in 16th.
Notably, Lampard will be supported by an experienced backroom team made up of Joe Edwards (assistant manager), former Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich assistant boss Paul Clement (first-team coach) and Chris Jones (first-team coach and head of performance).
In an interview with the club’s official website, Lampard said:
“It is a huge honour for me to represent and manage a club the size and tradition of Everton Football Club. I’m very hungry to get started. After speaking to the owner, Chairman and the Board, I very much felt their passion and ambition. I hope they felt my ambition and how hard I want to work to bring it together.
You can feel the passion Everton fans have for their club. That will be hugely important. As a team – the competitive level that the Premier League brings and the position we are in the table – we certainly need that. It’s a two-way thing. I think Everton is a unique club in that you can really understand what the fans want to see. The first thing they want is fight and desire and that must always be our baseline.
My first message to the players will be that we have to do this together. We’ll try to do our job and I know the fans will be there backing us.”
Lampard’s first game in charge will be at home to Brentford in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday, and is followed by appealing Premier League fixtures against Newcastle United (a) and Leeds United (h), both of whom rank in the bottom three for goals conceded in 2021/22.
After that, however, the schedule is mixed at best, with tough matches against Southampton (a) – who have lost just once at St Mary’s all season – Manchester City (h), Tottenham Hotspur (a) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (h).
Everton fans will now be hoping Lampard can bring success to Goodison Park, but what does his appointment mean for Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers, and can he make their assets more appealing?
Our Scout Report takes a closer look.
DERBY COUNTY
In his first foray into management, Lampard took charge of Derby County in May 2018, leading them to the Championship play-off final in his only season at Pride Park.
Of the 57 games he managed, he won 24, drew 17 and lost 16, giving him a respectable win percentage of just over 42%.
Notable victories included beating Manchester United on penalties in the Carabao Cup and knocking Southampton out of the FA Cup, though they fell short in the play-off final, losing the Wembley decider to Aston Villa.
Given that Lampard inherited an ageing squad that had fallen short of promotion on several occasions, it’s clear he made progress at the club, but the underlying numbers throughout his time in charge suggested they overperformed, quite a bit in fact, as they struggled to create chances consistently in open-play and ranked 19th in the division for expected goals (xG).
However, he absolutely deserves credit for nurturing youngsters like Harry Wilson and Chelsea pair Mason Mount (£7.6m) and Fikayo Tomori, whilst also building a high energy system of play that suited the players at his disposal.
CHELSEA
The following year, Lampard was appointed head coach at Chelsea, who he guided to fourth place in the Premier League and the FA Cup final in his first season in charge.
Notably, that was achieved under a transfer embargo, which meant the club were unable to replace Eden Hazard after selling him to Real Madrid, and instead developed many of their young talents, including Mount and Reece James (£6.2m).
However, the Blues’ spent heavily the following summer, and Lampard seemed to struggle to find the right set-up to get the best from his new recruits. As a result, he was sacked midway through the 2020/21 campaign, with the club slumped in ninth after a series of poor performances.
What followed certainly didn’t help his reputation, either, as Thomas Tuchel brought an immediate uplift in results, leading the same group of players to UEFA Champions League glory just four months after taking over.
Despite that, for the most part, Chelsea were actually pretty good under Lampard, as they ranked second through the 2019/20 season for xG, earning memorable wins over Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
Even the defensive numbers were okay, but some erratic goalkeeping from Kepa Arrizabalaga (£4.7m), plus some organisational issues at the back, certainly didn’t help.
Above: teams ranked by xG 2019/20
THE TACTICS
“I want to see a team that are confident in possession, that can control games with possession, and be very exciting to watch at the top end of the pitch. We need to be a team that’s very active… crossing and getting shots on goal and staying in the other half of the pitch. When you don’t have the ball, you must be aggressive.” – Frank Lampard
In terms of tactics, Lampard has mostly used 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 formations, favouring an open and expansive style which aims to move the ball forward quickly and press high up the pitch.
At both Derby and Chelsea, the system incorporated attacking full-backs and wingers who played quite narrow, with at least one of the midfielders staying back.
All in all, it’s a pretty aggressive, pro-active approach, something Lampard touched on during his opening press conference, and it’s safe to say it’s going to be drastically different to anything Benitez served up during his time at Everton.
THE PROSPECTS
Having won just one of their last 14 Premier League matches, Lampard faces a real challenge getting Everton back on track.
However, his first two Premier League fixtures are against fellow bottom-six sides, Newcastle United and Leeds United, so there is potential for a new manager bounce, whilst they also have three appealing games yet to be rescheduled: Burnley (a), Leicester City (h) and Newcastle United (h), increasing the likelihood of getting Double Gameweeks.
Encouragingly, Lampard has also been a relatively strong starter at both Derby and Chelsea, and has been able to convey his ideas and tactics to his players quickly. For example, at Derby, his team won four of their opening six games, whilst at Stamford Bridge, after a heavy 4-0 opening day loss at Man Utd, they then went on to win eight of their next 11 Premier League matches, scoring 27 goals in the process.
At Everton, the squad contains some talented players, especially in attack, with the deadline day arrivals of Donny van de Beek (£5.7m) and Dele Alli (£6.2m) adding some much-needed depth.
As a result, an attack led by Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.9m), who has produced 29 Premier League goals and seven assists across his two previous campaigns, supported by the likes of van de Beek, Richarlison (£7.4m) and Demarai Gray (£5.5m), is actually quite appealing for FPL managers, and has the potential to be profitable.
For those who already own Calvert-Lewin and Gray, they are probably worth holding onto a little while longer, then, given those fixtures detailed above and the potential for a new manager bounce. However, for those without, observing from afar for a few weeks may be the best option, especially given the schedule to follow those two relegation six-pointers.
Elsewhere, it’s also worth noting that Lampard deserves real credit for his determination to use youth both at Derby and Chelsea, where he developed players like Mount, James, Tomori and Tammy Abraham, who are all now England internationals. And that could be good news for the likes of Anthony Gordon (£4.5m), Jarrad Branthwaite (£4.0m) and Nathan Patterson (£4.5m), once we have established what role they will play in the first-team that is.
As for Lampard, there are still a lot of unknowns, and it’s hard to gauge exactly how good he is as a manager.
Taking over a side low on confidence 20 league games in won’t be easy, however, and that is why we may have to wait till next season to see Lampard’s best work on the pitch, after a full pre-season with his squad.
