After more misery on the road this week, what is your assessment of Everton's current position in the Premier League table?
Increasingly parlous. That Everton have yet to fall into the bottom three to this point despite enduring one of the worst runs of form by any Premier League team in memory is amazing but, realistically, the margin for error has now gone. Frank Lampard and his players have to find a way to start winning or this once prestigious old club’s proud 68-year stretch in the top flight is going to come to an end this season. There are 27 points on offer between now and the end of the campaign, 15 of them at Goodison Park, which is a reason to hope, but things must turn around immediately, starting on Saturday against Manchester United.
Individual mistakes have really hampered the team as of late. What would you put that down to?
Clearly fear is preying on the minds of the players; it’s evident in their play trying to move the ball forward and it is manifesting itself in those costly errors at the back. Part of it is due to the horrendous recruitment policy that has left the last two managers struggling to field an experienced, coherent side and forced Lampard, in particular, to rely on players as first-team starters who were long ago deemed surplus to requirements.
However, it also stands to reason that the more pressure is placed on a defence, the greater the chance for human error and a failure on the part of midfielders to adequately track back and cover has been a recurring theme all season.
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Relegation is a growing possibility - do you still believe these players and this manager can pull Everton out of trouble?
I believe they can, particularly given how much more comfortable they have looked at home under Lampard, and it’s the hope that they will that is all that is keeping me going at the moment!
There is sufficient talent in the squad to pick up the required number of points over the final nine games, especially with Allan, Donny van de Beek and then, hopefully, Yerry Mina due to come back into the team, but it’s going to take the kind of self-belief that has been visibly lacking recently.
Scrutiny is building on Frank Lampard too - how would you assess the job he has done since taking charge?
No one can deny that he inherited a mess — a side that had been compromised in unforgivable fashion by the sales of James Rodriguez and Lucas Digne, in particular, and whose confidence had been shattered under the previous manager.
Allowances have to be made for the fact that he has struggled at times to patch together a team boasting more than Championship-standard players in some key positions but the longer time goes on, the more Lampard cannot escape criticism for a naïve approach to some matches and the fact Everton remain so open to the counter-attack and vulnerable defending set-pieces.
Talking positively can only get you so far; at some point, the results have to start coming on a consistent basis and there hasn’t been much of a “new manager bounce”.
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The run of fixtures is about to get brutal for the Blues. What do you want to see from the team in these games, starting with Manchester United on Saturday?
I want to see a return to solidity at the back and if that means stringing four centre-halves across defence like Carlo Ancelotti did so successfully at times during his short stint at the club, then so be it. I want to see Allan return to central midfield now that his suspension is over and for Lampard to do away with the reliance on — or faith in, whichever it is — Dominic Calvert-Lewin up front who is offering very little to the side at the moment.
Beyond that, I want to see more bravery from the players in the final third, more tempo and a sign that they are willing to run through brick walls to keep this club in the Premier League.
Anything else to add?
There have been plenty of calls on social media for pundits, journalists and fans alike to start vocally calling out those in the Everton hierarchy for the utter shambles over which they have presided over the past few years. No immediate good can come from that — however this season turns out, the recriminations will be loud and keenly felt by those at the top and they will, hopefully, lead to wholesale change in personnel and direction.
For now, though, all energy needs to be directed at dragging these players through the next nine matches. Nothing else matters in the short term and I just pray they do enough for us to survive.
You can read more of Lyndon's work on Toffeeweb.
