Being Frank about the situation
If Everton played like they did in what proved to be their only FA Cup match this season on a regular basis in the Premier League then they wouldn’t be fighting against relegation. Those who didn’t watch this pulsating third round tie and only saw the final 3-1 scoreline might assume that the Blues were comfortably beaten but they remained in the fight for another share of the spoils in Manchester in six days until stoppage time.
Here was a group of Everton footballers still very much playing for their under-fire manager and putting their bodies on the line for a cause in a similar fashion to the display they had put in at the Etihad on New Year’s Eve. However, the reality is that their current predicament still looks bleak because of the horrendous collapse against Brighton & Hove Albion that came between in front of their own supporters at Goodison Park.
This has unfortunately been the issue for a long time though at the Blues with some in this group having already ‘seen off’ numerous bosses through their under-achievements with Frank Lampard having become their sixth manager in as many years. You could take plenty of encouragement if not tangible reward from this performance but the off-days have been far more numerous and if owner Farhad Moshiri is inclined to make yet another change in the dugout, this result – no matter how tantalisingly close Everton might have been to earning a replay – still leaves the door open for that decision to be made.
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Three is not a crowd
Everton and the three centre-back system have endured an uneasy relationship down the years but right now it looks the most-effective formation for the team to deploy. After keeping reigning Premier League champions Manchester City at bay with a trio of central defenders at the Etihad, it was perhaps surprising that Lampard reverted to a flat back four against Brighton & Hove Albion and indeed his side were eventually torn apart setting up that way.
Here they went back to the 5-3-2 they deployed against Pep Guardiola’s men and while their equaliser against United came via a mistake from opposition goalkeeper David De Gea rather than a piece of brilliance from one of their own players like Demarai Gray’s screamer, it enabled them to dig in and make life difficult for their opponents while looking more potent on the break when they were able to move out on the break.
This game was played on the day the football world mourned the passing of Gianluca Vialli, the man who scored Chelsea’s first goal against Bolton Wanderers on the occasion that Everton came closest to relinquishing their Premier League status when drawing 1-1 at home to Coventry City on the final day of the 1997/98 season and depended on favours from others like the west London club who did their job professionally despite having a European final just three days later. Back then the Blues went five at the back but too often when they have gone that way it’s been done on an ad hoc basis.
Most players are still brought up on flat back fours and if you’re going to go with three centre-backs, the personnel need to understand their roles within the system. This will only come through deploying it on a more regular basis and while Lampard himself is known to like that style, he like many of his predecessors has dipped in and out.
Iwobi blow
If any single individual’s fortunes have improved on a significant upward curve since Lampard’s appointment it has been those of Alex Iwobi but with so many things up in the air at Everton right now, it remains to be seen whether the Nigerian will get another chance under him again after this injury blow. A £28million signing from Arsenal on summer transfer deadline day in 2019, Iwobi struggled to find both form and a settled position at the Blues under Marco Silva, Carlo Ancelotti or Rafael Benitez and it was only after the arrival of the former Derby County and Chelsea boss that he finally blossomed.
Lampard claimed last month that Iwobi – along with Jordan Pickford and Anthony Gordon – was “very close” to signing a new contract at Everton but the ligament injury he suffered early in the second half after being caught by Tyrell Malacia when chasing the ball upfield has come at a particularly inconvenient moment. As mentioned earlier, the Blues players really showed for their boss here and Iwobi as much as anyone can credit his renaissance to his current gaffer’s influence.
If Lampard is still in charge for the Southampton showdown then the presence of the revived Iwobi, who has been a mainstay in midfield so far this season, would surely have been a key part of his plans. In truth, there has been a drop-off in form from him in recent times – something we could also say of so many of his team-mates and too many first half passes went astray here – but without him, an Everton team already painfully short on attacking prowess has lost one of its most creative influences.
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