Dave Vitty has been speaking on the All Together Now podcast about how Frank Lampard could emulate what he did with Mason Mount’s career with Everton youngster Anthony Gordon.
In what has been a pretty bleak season overall for the Toffees, their shining light has without a doubt been academy product Gordon finally breaking into the first team under Rafael Benitez, while he has managed to keep his place under new manager Lampard.
Will Lampard bring success to Everton?
Yes!
No!
Gordon’s featured 19 times in the league this season, which is more often than experienced players such as Alex Iwobi and Andros Townsend, highlighting just how good he’s been, and the stats back that up.
He ranks inside the top three for successful dribbles and carries into the opposition’s 18-yard box (as per FBRef), showing he’s certainly got no fear at moving attacks into dangerous areas.
While Lampard’s time as Chelsea manager is not remembered too fondly given the money he spent and lack of success in his second season at Stamford Bridge, something he did well was to involve young players in the first team such as Fikayo Tomori, Tammy Abraham, Reece James and Mason Mount – and it’s the latter who Vitty believes Gordon could emulate.
Vitty believes that working under Lampard will be incredibly exciting for Gordon.
“Arguably, I would say that that Chelsea side now under [Thomas] Tuchel was largely, you know, the foundations of which were laid by Lampard, and Mason Mount has a huge debt of gratitude, I would say, to Frank Lampard.
“And if he can do anywhere near what he’s done for his career to Anthony Gordon’s, then Gordon’s got to be excited about what the prospects hold, I think.”
TIF Thoughts on Anthony Gordon’s potential at Everton under Frank Lampard…
After struggling out on loan with Preston North End in the Championship last season, it remains to be seen whether Gordon will ever be good enough to make it in the Premier League, but with the Toffees experiencing a boatload of injuries, Benitez turned to the youngster, with his first start coming in the 1-1 draw at Manchester United and has never looked back since.
While Everton have spent a lot of money on attacking players over the last few years, turning to their academy could be an incredibly smart thing to do, as not shelling out on expensive forward players could allow Lampard and the club to pay a premium for a top-class centre-back with their most expensive one being the injury-prone Yerry Mina for £27m.
In other news: ‘Gone on to another level’ – Greg O’Keeffe excited as ‘fantastic’ talent emerges at Everton