Amadou Onana’s move to a more withdrawn role was an attempt to provide him with “comfort” claims Everton manager Frank Lampard.
Returning from World Cup duty with Belgium, the midfielder was operating in a deeper role for the Blues against Wolverhampton Wanderers during their 2-1 defeat on Boxing Day than during previous outings for his club last month.
Everton’s biggest signing of the summer, Onana arrived at Goodison Park in a £33.5million transfer from Lille as a ‘box-to-box’ midfielder. In the defeats to Leicester City and Bournemouth before the World Cup break, the 21-year-old was operating in a more advanced position but rather than it giving him a new-found freedom, the move appeared to imbalance the Blues engine room and left them looking exposed.
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Asked what the thinking was behind the switch to a more withdrawn role against Wolves for the Belgium international, Lampard said: “Just to move him and see if I could help him get comfort in his position.
“For the game to be in front of him and to use his qualities in that deeper area to move the ball, protect the back four and also jump from that deeper position, as he’s very good at that.
"There have been times when I’ve wanted to try and get him higher up but it felt like a better option to be deeper and I thought he did well.”
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