Tony Scott has ripped into Frank Lampard for his inability to give Everton an identity on the pitch.
Everton, who started the season off pretty well by losing just twice in their opening nine games, have since fallen off a cliff, losing their last three across all competitions.
While Lampard has indeed had to cope with injuries to players such as Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Nathan Patterson this season, that shouldn’t be why they are seemingly playing without any plan or identity, according to Scott.
Speaking on the All Together Now podcast, Scott slammed Lampard for not implementing an identity into this Everton side despite being almost a year in his role.
He said: “I went on TalkSport at the start of the season and I was asked the question, ‘What do you want to see from Everton this season?’
“And the two things that I alluded to were, I want to see progression on the pitch, and I want to see an identity and a style of play. Now, Everton stayed up by the skin of their teeth last season; if they finish two or three places above, that’s progression, for me.
Should Lampard be sacked?
Yes!
No!
“But what I wanted to see is an identity in this Everton team, and that’s the problem I’ve got with Frank Lampard at the moment, is that I’m not seeing an identity – and I don’t think he even knows where this Everton team’s at. I think he’s confused himself.
“I think he doesn’t know whether to play high-pressing; I don’t think he knows whether to play possession-based football; I don’t think he knows whether he’s counter-attacking. I think he’s confused himself because of the personnel he’s got.”
TIF Thoughts on Lampard’s Everton…
It’s no surprise Scott has been left annoyed with Lampard, as so far this season, Everton have turned out in four different formations, meaning that their style of play will have likely been inconsistent, with Lampard fielding three at the back in some games and a back four in others.
With this mid-season break, Lampard should be using it to pick one formation and style of play, drilling it into his players who’ve not jetted off to the World Cup and be working on it relentlessly.
If Lampard continues to chop and change, he will only go on to manage the Evertonians and continue to confuse his players, who will become overloaded with information in different formations and styles of play, and it appears they are not capable of dealing with that.