Frank Lampard has been heavily linked with the vacant Everton manager position as the Toffees continue their search for Rafa Benitez's replacement.
Benitez was sacked as Everton boss after losing 2-1 to Norwich City who sat bottom of the Premier League at the time, and with Everton losing their one game since sacking the Spaniard, they currently sit 16th in the league table, only four points away from the relegation zone.
Vitor Pereira has been heavily linked with the Everton job over the last few days, but another name thrown into the hat has been Lampard, who has been out of management since being sacked by Chelsea just over one year ago.
Reports have claimed that Lampard remains a leading contender for the Everton job, and Lampard seems to be the man wanted by a section of Everton fans, with graffiti reading 'Pereira out, Lampard in' sprayed outside Goodison Park.
The 43-year-old was in charge at Chelsea between 2019 and 2021, managing 57 Premier League games in that time with a 49% win rate.
So, what would happen if Lampard was appointed as Everton manager?
Would he improve the side, could Everton slip into the relegation zone?
We 'appointed' Frank Lampard as Everton's new manager
To find out how Lampard could perform, we arranged for the 43-year-old to join Everton as manager after 20 Premier League games on Football Manager 2022, with realistic results, and simulated the remainder of the 2021/22 season.
This is what the Englishman's in-game profile looks like on Football Manager 2022.
Lampard's preferred formation is the 4-2-3-1 wide and his preferred tactical style is vertical tiki-taka, offering a different type of style to Benitez. His best attributes are his determination (18), judging players ability (16) and his ability to work with youngsters (16), all of which could come in hand with the Toffees' strong youth academy.
Let's take a look at how Everton performed for the final 18 games of the season under Lampard.
Everton's 2021/22 season under Lampard
Lampard hit the ground running as the Toffees had their new manager bounce, winning five and drawing one of their first seven games under the new boss. But unfortunately for Everton, they quickly slipped back into their poor form, winning just one of the 10 remaining games and losing seven, including five consecutive losses between March and April.
Lampard's record from the last 18 games was won six, drew three and lost eight, winning a total of 21 points. To put that into context, Benitez won 19 points from 19 games before his sacking, winning five, drawing four and losing 10.
Overall, Lampard won just two more points than Benitez in a game less, with very similar results to the Spaniard.
At the end of the 2021/22 season, the Blues finished in 15th place, nine points off the relegation zone and just above Crystal Palace and Leeds.
So, could Lampard improve on that in his second season at the club?
Everton's 2022/23 season with Lampard
The 2022/23 Premier League season got off to a flyer for Everton, with the Toffees keeping pace with the top teams in the league following a busy summer transfer window in which Lampard was able to spend close to £70million.
Lampard was able to bring in a total of eight players in the summer transfer window ahead of his first full season in charge at Everton, with Nikola Maras signing from Almeria for £3.6million, Dutch fullback Jetro Willems for £6.5million and young Chelsea prospect Charlie Webster for £625k.
The arrival of Marcus Edwards joining from Vitoria de Guimaraes for £24million, Wendel from Zenit St. Petersburg for £11.5million and Ayoze Perez from Leicester for a minimal fee saw Lampard's Everton side finish in an impressive sixth-place finish in the Premier League, finishing above West Ham, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle, winning a total of 63 points.
Lampard's Blues side won 23 more points than in the previous campaign, losing seven fewer games, drawing one less and winning eight more.
At the end of the 2022/23 season, Football Manager 2022 put together an overall Everton best XI based on statistics, performance and other metrics.
Here's how Lampard's best-performing XI looked in 2022/23 according to Football Manager 2022:
Everton's best XI (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Wendel, Godfrey, Maras, Mykolenko; Allan, Doucoure; Edwards, Iwobi, Richarlison; Calvert-Lewin.
New signings Wendel, Maras and Edwards all feature in Everton's best XI at the end of the 2022/23 season.
Calvert-Lewin lead the line for the Toffees and had a strong season scoring 21 goals in 42 appearances, whilst Richarlison scored 15 goals in 39 appearances from a wide position.
So there you have it, Football Manager 2022 predicts that if Lampard took the reigns at Goodison Park halfway through this season, Everton's form would improve slightly, but not enough to recover from their poor first half of the season.
However, in the following campaign, Lampard may be able to implement his playing style and tactical ideas more effectively, and following a strong transfer window, could lead the club to an impressive league finish, qualifying for European football with the addition of some quality signings.
Would you want to see Frank Lampard as the new Everton boss? Let us know in the comments.
