Frank Lampard will not let England’s need get in the way of what is best for Everton, as he maps out a return for Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
The national side look desperately short up front beyond Harry Kane, with a World Cup just seven weeks away, and some are wondering if the Blues striker can make a late bid for a call up on his return from injury.
But the Everton boss indicated there is no way he will rush his number nine back, after what appears another setback on his return to fitness, which is likely to rule him out this weekend. Lampard said: “I just want him back soon and he wants to be back soon too. I wouldn’t give any consideration to the England thing..
“I know what players are like. I was one and you tell the manager you are fine because you want back in. But we’ve (had a) very open conversation between myself, Dominic and the medical department to make sure we get him in the best possible nick. It is a long season. I don’t want to bring him back too early.” Lampard had suggested his star striker was ready to play in Everton’s final Premier League game before the international break, but now he seems certain to miss the visit to Southampton.
That suggests another setback for a player who hasn’t played this season, and has managed just 18 appearances in 13 months. His manager confirmed that, when he said: “I don’t want to go into the detail of things we have to consider and if he has a small setback it is not fair on Dominic to say what exactly the problem is now. The reality is if Dominic is not ready for the weekend - you might be reading between the lines on that one anyway - I am pretty confident that he will be ready and firing for next week. Then the important thing is can we keep him fit for the next eight games as a starting block and see what we can get out of him?”
Meanwhile, Lampard claimed there is “more to come” from England despite the turmoil under Gareth Southgate in recent months. The Everton boss is rightly regarded as one of his country’s greats, after winning 106 caps for the international side to put him joint seventh alongside Bobby Charlton on the all-time list. No one is more qualified currently to judge exactly where Southgate’s team stand, after a dismal record of no wins in their last six warm up matches before the World Cup gets underway in November.
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Lampard pulls no punches about the inevitable pressure the England manager faces, but he said: “I think there can be more to come from them, they're a young team in many ways. Gareth, Steve and his team have proven already that they can get to the semi-finals of a World Cup, final of a Euros. And we have a really quality squad so I don't believe they've peaked and I really hope that they can prove that right.” What Lampard does explain though, is that all national teams often face games like the two recent Nations League showdowns with Germany and Italy, where there was a lack of atmosphere and seemingly motivation for some of the England side. That came after some shocking performances in June, when they slumped to their worst home defeat since 1928 after being thrashed 4-0 by an emerging Hungary team.
But the England great said: “Knowing how international football is, I've played in many a game in my career that looked like the Italy game, looked like the Germany game. It's tough, international football. I think in some parts the criticism is harsh; and when I say 'some parts' it's something that we all sign up to in our own ways and the England job is right up there for pressure. I'm not going to say people can't criticise, if things are constructive and people have opinions then great. Maybe going into the World Cup with a little bit of a reduction of expectation but still with a quality squad and a really good manager.”
And Lampard also suggested Southgate is entitled to his own style, even if people believe his side’s play with the handbrake on. There'll always be those opinions. I remember the fantastic French team won the last World Cup without really playing beautiful football. “There are lots of different styles and ways to win a game. While Gareth’s in charge you give him his head to make those decisions and when you look at Gareth's history as England manager, he's made many good decisions that have got them pretty far. Let's hope we can go one step further.”
