Frank Lampard told what he must solve at Everton with inevitable consequences of failure
Richard Dunne feels Frank Lampard did not realise how big the job was when he arrived at Everton and should get rid of the dead wood this summer.
The Toffees struggled throughout 2021-2022 and were involved in a relegation battle. They secured their Premier League status with one game to go but it was touch and go at one stage. Ten points from their last six games was enough to beat the drop. But the hard work now begins to make sure it does not happen again.
Lampard replaced Rafa Benitez at Goodison Park on January 31. Performances did not really improve and it took a late run to turn things around.
And ex-Everton defender Dunne feels the former Chelsea chief was not aware of the size of task awaiting him.
“It’s been difficult to watch them because in the last couple of seasons they’ve started off really well and looked like they were going to compete for a Europa League place at least and it’s just fallen apart,” he told Bet 365.
“Certainly this season they got themselves into a really bad situation so it’s difficult to watch them. Especially with the amount of money they’ve spent over the last few years, the recruitment has not been right.
“That’s not down to Lampard who’s only had a couple of months there. The job was probably bigger than he expected going in there.”
Lampard under pressure to deliver
There is no question that Everton need an influx of new players to the club this summer. The future of star man Richarlison is up in the air but the fans want to see quality arrive on Merseyside.
Dunne does not feel last season’s woes were down to the two managers involved. But he warned Lampard that unless results improve, he will follow the same way as Benitez.
“It looks like there’s a lot of clearing out to be done there. He needs to be given the opportunity,” he added. “It wasn’t his fault this season or Benitez’s either, I think there’s just an overload of players that aren’t up to the standard of Everton.
“They got themselves out of it in the end and the manager deserves credit for that but there needs to be an improvement or the inevitable will happen and the manager will change again.”
And the ex-Manchester City defender believes it is imperative that Everton do not set their sights too high in 2022-2023.
“I think the expectations have to be that they are not challenging for the Europa League,” he continued.
“They just need to get top 10 and build over a period of time rather than having expectations be too high and failing miserably like they did this season.”
A top-10 finish will be seen as an achievement but they must improve year-on-year for Lampard to remain in charge.
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