Frank Lampard can find a way to integrate Nathan Patterson into the Everton team without losing the leadership qualities of captain Seamus Coleman. That’s the verdict of the ECHO’s Paul Wheelock who explained his theory in the latest edition of the Royal Blue podcast.
Patterson became Rangers’ record sale when he moved from Ibrox to Goodison Park for £11.5million plus add ons in the January transfer window. However, over two months on, the 20-year-old has still yet to kick a ball for Everton in the Premier League with just a solitary 45 minute outing at home to non-League opponents in the FA Cup.
Despite his lack of first team action south of the border, Patterson impressed on international duty for Scotland in their 1-1 draw with Poland last week. Despite the youngster having been brought to the club to become Coleman’s long-term successor, Wheelock believes there is a method Blues boss Lampard can utilise to select him without having to drop his skipper at a time when the team need as many leaders as possible.
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He said: “Nathan Patterson is the really interesting one. Against Boreham Wood, I thought he was okay, but the whole team in the first half fell into the classic trap of not playing quickly against a team that put every man behind the ball - and rightly so, they’re a National League outfit.
“I didn’t think it was the best advertisement for Patterson but I still thought it was very harsh on him to be brought off at half-time. That day, Frank Lampard could have easily taken off Jonjoe Kenny and kept Patterson on, as we could have learned a lot more about him, but every time we see him for Scotland, he impresses.
“He seems to be exactly what Everton are lacking at the moment. The issue I think Lampard has got with Patterson comes back to the issue of leadership and mentality in the team. I just feel Lampard doesn’t think that he can drop Seamus Coleman at the moment.”
Wheelock added: “Coleman gets a lot of criticism at times because he isn’t the player he was but that’s probably the club’s fault for not buying a better long-term solution at right-back earlier than Patterson. I’m pretty sure if Coleman was playing 16/17 games a season rather than 30-35, he’d be doing pretty well most weeks. I still think he’s a competent performer for Everton even though time is taking its toll against him now.
“I think Patterson deserves a go, but given that the centre-backs aren’t playing particularly well and Yerry Mina is still out, I wonder with Lampard liking a 3-4-3 formation, that there’s a case for playing Seamus as a third centre-back on the right side, with Ben Godfrey on the left. He kind of had that role in the famous win at Anfield last season, he seemed to play a lot narrower that day under Carlo Ancelotti.”
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