New manager’s sheer energy galvanises team with echoes of club’s history evident during momentous victory over ArsenalThere is a lot wrong at Everton. Vast sums have been spent very badly and again the board stayed away for its own safety, but just because there are a lot of things to put right it does not mean that you shouldn’t correct the things you can. And just because clubs are often unduly impatient with managers it doesn’t mean that a change isn’t sometimes necessary. Sean Dyche’s first game in charge after replacing Frank Lampard brought Everton’s best performance and best result of the season.It says much about how well Everton played that Arsenal seemed so flat. It’s the performance as much...
Expectations are way too high and the squad is a mess, as the Goodison club’s latest managerial hiring will soon discoverJarrod Bowen scored with a header after a corner was half-cleared, then he scored again on a break. “Set-piece second phase, then a counter-attack …” Frank Lampard said wearily afterwards, as though the failings are so familiar to him he has started regarding them as things that just happen, acts of God he can’t be expected to influence any more than he could control the weather or the traffic on the M6.At other clubs at other times, the criticism would have focused on the way Everton lost at West Ham. Lampard’s teams have always conceded goals from set-plays and counters....
The real problem at Goodison Park is simply the board are extremely bad at running a football clubThe beanie hat was the real giveaway. Frank doesn’t wear a beanie hat. This is the same Frank Lampard who drew awed gasps from his fellow West Ham youth players at his vast and immaculate wardrobe crammed full of Ralph Lauren jumpers. Frank is sharp. Frank carries himself right. Frank understands projection, image, display. Frank understands about not wearing a beanie.And yet Lampard did wear a beanie, lurking like a dispirited hiker on the London Stadium touchline through the 2-0 defeat that would prove to be his last engagement as manager of Everton. Continue reading...
Arsenal reap the rewards of an old-school striker, Thiago Silva turns back the clock and Ten Hag’s tactics hit a snagFast-paced, tactically intricate and dramatic to the last, Arsenal v Manchester United was a heavyweight clash that lived up to its billing. It also showcased two models of centre-forward that were meant to be extinct: the old-fashioned target man and the old-fashioned poacher. Spearheading United’s attack, Wout Weghorst pressed with zeal and offered a focal point for United’s free-roaming wide men. It was his peeling run, drawing Gabriel to his left, that afforded Marcus Rashford the angle to blast home the opener. Nketiah pressed with similar intelligence but dropped deep when required to link with his midfield. Both his goals...
Mykhaylo Mudryk could make his Chelsea debut at Anfield, while Newcastle and Manchester United will miss their BraziliansShoots of recovery or a false dawn? Both Jürgen Klopp and Graham Potter will be desperately hoping their respective 1-0 wins last time out demonstrated the former. Liverpool versus Chelsea may lack its usual consequence with the teams occupying ninth and 10th place in the table and a 10 point chasm between themselves and fourth place, but their managers would beg to differ. Klopp admitted there would have been genuine doubt around Anfield on Saturday had Liverpool repeated their tame efforts at Brighton in the FA Cup replay at Wolves. An improved display from a much-changed team at Molineux, particularly in terms of...