Premier League Talking Points: Everton tactics harming Lampard's rep
Everton manager Frank Lampard gestures from the sideline during the Premier League match at Goodison Park. Peter Byrne/PA Wire.
It was only a 1-0 victory but there was a gulf between the sides and if the Reds had won by four or five it wouldn’t have been unjustified. They made changes with the Champions League game ahead in the week but their squad is so strong it made little difference to their overall quality. Liverpool bombarded the Magpies goal with 24 shots, ten on target whereas Newcastle managed just two. What had looked like a tricky game, given the home teams’ form, was in fact, an easy win, which Liverpool didn’t have to get out of second gear to achieve. James Milner, making a rare start, even at 36, was especially effective and tireless against one of his old clubs, earning special praise from his manager post-match. Newcastle looked very mid-table but Jurgen Klopp’s jubilant reaction at the final whistle reflected what an important win it was for the club.
Leeds are increasingly in trouble after taking a 4-1 beating from Manchester City. That’s 72 they’ve let in now, the most in the league. With Burnley's revival they're fighting it out with Everton for the best of the worst award. Leeds had lost Liam Cooper in the warm-up and without their captain to marshall the defence, a defeat looked almost certain, their recent good form having been directly related to Cooper’s return from injury. Leeds didn’t even have a shot on target. They have Arsenal, Brighton, Chelsea and Brentford to play. They could easily lose all of those games and have to rely on Everton not making up the two points between them. It’s an undignified end to a season for a club who have been very entertaining but have suffered appalling injuries.
This was the game that statistically sent Norwich down. It was their 23rd loss of the season and while no-one could question their commitment, they were always second best to Aston Villa who in Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings have two excellent strikers. Both scored to finish Norwich off. It’s been a strange season for Steven Gerrard as manager. There have been some high points but some prolonged periods without a win. This was their first win and second consecutive clean sheet in seven games and it put them safely on 40 points. If they can keep Coutinho they can build on this season. If they lose him they need to get more creativity into midfield and get a decent tune out of Leon Bailey who is, to say the least, an unfulfilled talent.
The Clarets had never come from behind to win a Premier League away game but did so against Watford whose appalling run of consecutive home losses was extended to 11. In the history of English football, only Rochdale’s 14 home losses on the spin in the 1931-32 season has been greater. They had started brightly and deserved to take the lead. However, they always seem to lose confidence as soon as they concede. That Burnley netted in the 83rd and 86th minute just crushed them in an instant and there was no fight to try and get an equaliser in the dying minutes.
From winning three in 29, Burnley have now won four out of six games. Clearly, the dismissal of Sean Dyche and appointing Mike Jackson and Ben Mee acting as a quasi coach, has been the making of the club. They don’t lump it forward as quickly now, they dominated possession 52/48 and had six shots on target. Hardly Brazil 1970 but a big improvement from under Dyche. We have to assume things had gotten tired and stale on both sides under the old manager. With the way they’re playing now, the current management team is making a good case to be kept on next season.
It was a well deserved fourth defeat in five for Wolves at home to Crystal Palace. A lethargic performance from a team who have now lost five in six games, they were booed off at half time and again at the final whistle. Having looked so good earlier in the season and built up plenty of points, this fall off in form may be partly due to a sense that the hard work had been done to get in the top half and there was little left to fight for, having reached a glass ceiling. Bruno Lage had won a lot of plaudits for making the team more resilient. Even after this losing streak they still have the fourth best defence in the league. However, it is never good politics for a manager to lose a lot of games in the second half of the season. Better to do so in the first half and then rise like a phoenix from the ashes. This poor season’s end will mean Lage needs to get off to a very good start next campaign, as this one will leave a bitter taste in the mouth all summer.
The Seagulls have managed to win just three home games but have won seven on the road. 28 of their 44 points have been won playing away. They are always a nice passing, fluid side but have lacked a prolific striker all season. But against a goal shy Wolves they scored a 3 - 0 victory and managed to miss a penalty too. They always play a fluid and neat passing game but usually lack an end product but when away from home, they look much more threatening. The win took them into the top half, which is remarkable for a club of their size.
It was a back three for Everton this week as Frank Lampard continued to change how they set up in search of a victory. It was a messy, fractious game which is doubtless how Everton wanted it. They got lucky when they were gifted the opening goal by César Azpilicueta early in the second half. Then they tried to foul, slow and disrupt the game in the same fashion they tried against Liverpool last week. Call it game management if you want but it is a desperately cynical tactic for a club that has wasted over half a billion pounds on players in the last few years and it does Frank Lampard’s reputation no good to encourage it as a tactic.
“We stayed up by playacting and time wasting” isn’t a good look. They won with 23% possession, which is remarkable. Mason Mount managed to hit both posts with one shot but Chelsea were very out of sorts all afternoon, they had scored in every game since February but couldn’t do so at Goodison. They need to be careful they don’t lose their Champions League place by getting caught by Arsenal or Spurs.
Everton’s keeper is often the subject of much unfair mockery for various reasons, but his Man Of The Match performance against Chelsea won his team the game. There’s no doubt that he can make a mistake at any point, often through lack of concentration, but show me a goalie that doesn’t. However, the balance against that is his shot stopping and distribution which are both excellent. His reactions were pin sharp all afternoon and he got up quickly to make an astonishing double save. He’s England’s #1 and rightly so.
This week’s iteration of Tottenham Hotspur was the one where Harry Kane and Son Heung-min score excellent goals - Son’s second was a real sizzler - and look like an exciting attacking team who could win any game. Between them Kane and Son have scored a mighty 42 goals this season. That is one hell of a partnership in an era where striking double acts have fallen a little out of fashion. As we know Spurs can’t do this every week of the season and they have a tendency to look fragile and jittery, as if they don’t really believe in themselves. In fact, they looked like that in this game for most of the first half. They were helped on Sunday by the fact Leicester had nothing to play for and a Europa Conference League semi-final second leg to think about. Their squad looks lacking in depth but they have a handful of players who are so good, they may yet be able to drag the rest of them into fourth.
West Ham may have been beaten by Arsenal from two set plays, but all game long, Rice was in imperious form, most of this team’s best chances were rooted in his contributions. Even though it was a pretty intense match in terms of the speed it was played at, Rice always had time on the ball which is usually the sign of a player with some class about their game. There is talk of Real Madrid thinking of putting in a huge bid for him this summer and it really is no surprise. He is two players rolled into one, working as a demolition man and disrupter in front of the back four, as well as a deep lying playmaker who can break into the final third and cause havoc. On top of all this, he has seemingly limitless energy and the natural command born out of being the best player at the club by a country mile and yet he is still just 23. It’s not too fanciful to say he is the reason West Ham are in the top seven.
They won at West Ham with two set pieces scored by two defenders. If anything represents the change Arsenal are undergoing, it is that. They ground out this win which takes the Gunners to within three points of Chelsea in third and two ahead of Spurs. There is much work still to do and they’ll need to not lose the North London derby, but if they can do that, then they’ll likely make the Champions League. The income and experience that will bring to their young side could be transformational for the club. They have some fine progressive young players who will only improve with European football, but defensively they are not yet good enough. Mikel Arteta needs to address that in the summer with at least two signings.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
