Chris Sutton feels Frank Lampard may already regret replacing Rafa Benitez as Everton boss after losing at Tottenham Hotspur on Monday, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live (7/3, 20:55).
The Toffees produced what Sutton feels was a ‘woeful’ performance as they lost 5-0 away to Spurs in north London. Michael Keane boosted Antonio Conte’s side with an early own goal, before Heung-Min Son soon doubled the advantage after an error by Jordan Pickford.
Harry Kane would later strike either side of half-time, while Sergio Reguilon beat Pickford within a minute of the restart. Tottenham were able to pick their way through the Everton defence at will, to leave Lampard’s men 17th in the Premier League and just a point safe.
Lampard struggling to turn Goodison Park tide as Benitez successor
Farhad Moshiri appointed Lampard to guide Everton to Premier League safety in January after sacking Benitez earlier in the month. The Blues owner parted with the Spaniard just six-and-a-half-months on from the former Liverpool coach’s controversial appointment.
Moshiri felt he had no choice but to sack Benitez, just a month after backing the Spaniard on talkSPORT. “Football is about crisis one day and glory the following day,” he said. “Rafa is a good manager and underperformance is largely due to the injuries.”
Yet Everton continued to struggle for results with Benitez in charge, with the 61-year-old losing 10 of 19 league games. He also won just one of his final 13 with a surprise 2-1 win at home to Arsenal. And Lampard is yet to turn the tide on Merseyside since taking over.
Lampard won in his second match as Everton manager with a 3-0 result over Leeds United. Yet the Toffees have lost each of the other four, with an aggregate score of 11-1. They have lost their last three 2-0 at Southampton, 1-0 to Manchester City and 5-0 at Tottenham.
Sutton feels Lampard may already regret taking over ‘woeful’ Everton
Sutton now feels Lampard may already regret accepting Moshiri’s offer to replace Benitez as Everton manager after the performance his side produced in defeat away to Tottenham.
“It is woeful from Everton,” Sutton said. “The first two goals they conceded were massive individual errors, and then they tried to play offside for the third.
“What chance do you have when your centre-half volleys into the top corner early on and then it’s followed up by an error from Jordan Pickford? If you saw these goals on a Sunday in a pub league, you would say it’s woeful. Spurs could’ve had more.
“If you look at Everton’s body language, they don’t believe they can win. Frank Lampard may be thinking ‘was it the right decision to take over?’ Everton are a real mess.”
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