Mason Holgate believes that Everton’s squad are inspired by playing for one of their Premier League heroes Frank Lampard and hopes the new manager’s faith in him proves a big plus moving forward after admitting the past couple of years “have not been the greatest” for himself personally.
Lampard, 43, enjoyed a trophy-laden career at Chelsea, winning a hat-trick of titles, four FA Cups, two League Cups, a Champions League and Europa League.
He made 609 appearances in the Premier League in total, also turning out for West Ham United and Manchester City and with 177 goals he is the competition’s fifth-highest all-time scorer and the highest-ranking non-striker on the list with Steven Gerrard (19th on 120) the only other midfielder in the top 20 with the current Aston Villa manager seemingly soon to be pushed out by Romelu Lukaku (118) and Mohamed Salah (113).
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Having such a recent domestic icon at the helm has been a galvanising act at Finch Farm reckons Holgate who told the ECHO: “It’s definitely inspirational. Quite a few of the lads in the squad now are in and around my age.
“I think (when they were children) is the prime age of when the boss was playing and we’ve grown up watching him and Ash (Cole) as well.
“Whatever people like that say, you’re going to take it because you’ve grown up watching them being at their peak and being the best players in the league.
“We want to win things and that’s what we’re all striving to do.”
Smiles are also back on faces under Lampard and Holgate said: “It’s been really good, I think everyone would say the same thing, that it’s been really enjoyable.
“It’s very different to what most of us have seen before. Obviously he’s a young manager and he’s not long been out of the changing room himself.
“The way him and his staff go about things and the way we’re presented with things is different to what most of us have seen before and we’re really enjoying it.
“It’s clear to see what they want and that makes it easier for us to go out and do it.
“To get the winning feeling back is a massive part of what we want to do.
“It’s something that we want to get used to and something we should be used to really more than we are but it’s been a real positive and the place has been buzzing this week.”
That belief was evident from the hard-pressing display Everton produced in their 3-0 win over Leeds United last weekend, a result that Holgate is hoping to build upon after just one victory from their previous 15 Premier League games.
When asked what was the key to overcoming their Yorkshire rivals, the Doncaster-born player said: “The intensity of what we did. We knew Leeds go man-for-man and we matched them and did more than that.
“It’s a unique game when you play Leeds, it’s literally man-for-man the whole game, but we were ready for that and dealt with it well I think.
“We stepped up and everybody won their personal battles and that’s what the game against Leeds is all about.”
Holgate added: “It’s not been great. Obviously where we wanted to be at the start of the season and the aims we had to be where we are now is not ideal.
“There’s no way of hiding it, we’re not stupid. It’s not been the best of seasons so far but the season is not over.
“We can’t sit and think about what’s gone on now. We can only really push on for this second half and go on to achieve everything we can.
“We’re still in the FA Cup and we can go on and just get the winning feeling to build on it from next season.
“It would be silly to get caught up in what has already happened but we can’t ignore it and need to accept what’s gone on in the first half of the season and build on that for the future.”
Holgate is also candid about his own form throughout a troubled period not being up to the benchmark he had previously set.
He said: “Obviously I’ve had had what have been not the greatest of two seasons but there’s a lot of things behind that.
“I’ve had a couple of injuries, I’ve played a lot of different positions and then at points I’ve not played so it’s been difficult for me because I feel as a centre-back you need a decent run of games in that position to go on and show what you can do.
“I’ve got that now so all I can do is concentrate on each game as it comes and be ready.
“I’ve been disappointed, 100%. There’s no hiding that. I’d be naïve to say I was happy with it.
“If you look back a couple of years ago to when Carlo (Ancelotti) first came, that season was really good for me and I felt like I established myself.
“Then I had a couple of injuries, came back and played a lot of different positions which is difficult for anyone to do.
“I can do a job in those positions but really that’s not my position.
“I kind of felt that when I came in it was only for a game or two and then I’d be back playing somewhere else or out so that’s always a difficult thing to do or adjust to.
“Ultimately it was down to me and my performances. There’s nothing I can do about that, just as the team can’t do anything about the way we’ve been. We can only take it from here and be ready.
“So far the gaffer has put faith in me, I’ve played every game so far since he’s been here, and it’s all about me now going out there and showing what I can do consistently to try and get back to where I think I should be.”
Deploying a 3-4-3 formation, Lampard started with three centre-backs in both of his first two fixtures in charge but after losing Ben Godfrey in the 4-1 win over Brentford and then Yerry Mina in the 3-1 defeat at Newcastle United to injury, he reverted to a flat back four for the game at home to Leeds United and it looks like Holgate will be partnering Michael Keane in the heart of defence for the foreseeable future – so long as they both stay fit.
He said: “I’ve played a lot of games with Keano now and I like playing alongside Mike.
“I think all four of us can play with any of the others, it’s not like there’s a certain partnership that doesn’t work. I think we all complement each other in different ways.
“It’s sad news for the squad and it’s not great that Ben and Yerry are injured but that’s part of football and part of the season and one of the reasons that the squad is so big.
“If people get injured then everyone has to be ready and I’m pretty sure that Michael and I will be fine.”
Holgate knows all about what it’s like to be a young player breaking through in the Everton team and one of the bright spots in an otherwise largely-troubled campaign has been the emergence of Anthony Gordon this term.
After having to wait 47 matches to score his first senior goal in club football (then netting twice in one game against Brighton & Hove Albion), the Blues home-grown hero capped another impressive display against Leeds United by being credited with the third goal of his fledgling career in bizarre circumstances after Richarlison’s strike in front of the Gwladys Street took a deflection off him en route to beating Illan Meslier.
While Holgate is delighted with the progress of his team-mate who turns 21 next Thursday, he reveals his Brazilian colleague was less than impressed with the decision to remove his name from the scoresheet.
He said: “We’ve all known for a while how good Ant is. There have never been any questions about that.
“He’s come in and been one of our best players this season. It doesn’t matter what age he is, he’s going out performing and doing that.
“He’s still young and he’s not going to be in his prime now, he’s only going to get better and better.
“That’s going to help us as a squad and it’s an exciting time because I’m sure we’ve all got faith in the ability that he’s got.
“I missed it (the moment Richarlison was told that the goal had been given to Gordon rather than himself). I came back into the changing rooms late and saw everyone laughing at Richy.
“He was shaking his head. I don’t know who broke the news to him but I don’t think he was best pleased about it!”
