Brentford midfielder Mathias Jensen was taken aback by an Everton team transformed during their 4-1 FA Cup defeat to Frank Lampard’s side, speaking to the Bees’ website.
It was like chalk and cheese. Night and day. John Travolta in Pulp Fiction and John Travolta in Battlefied Earth.
If Everton’s performance in November’s 1-0 defeat to Brentford summed up everything wrong with the Rafa Benitez era, then their eye-catching triumph over that very same opposition on Saturday afternoon was the perfect way to herald the arrival of a new regime.
Everton, in their first outing under Frank Lampard, were aggressive and energetic, purposeful in possession and ferocious without it.
They hassled and harried Brentford all over the pitch and, as the Toffees racked up the goals through Yerry Mina, Richarlison, Mason Holgate and Andros Townsend, the most alien of noises rang around Goodison Park.
Yes, Everton fans, those are what cheers sound like. You’d have been forgiven for forgetting.
Can Frank Lampard carry Everton to FA Cup glory?
“I think Everton did well,” admits Jensen, the Brentford midfielder summing up the differences between Benitez’s side and Lampard’s.
“First game with the new manager and so on. They were very aggressive, very good in the small areas with the number tens. It was hard to defend.
“That’s totally normal when you get a new manager. You want to show a bit extra. You get a bit of energy into the group. I think it was a different team to the one we played at home.”
Holgate, Michael Keane and Andre Gomes produced arguably their finest performances of the season so far this weekend.
Brazil international Allan, meanwhile, looked back to his best in the heart of midfield, setting up Richarlison’s goal with a defence-splitting through ball many of his compatriots would have been proud of.
Everton’s most complete performance of the season sets up a fifth-round clash with non-league Boreham Wood, who stunned Bournemouth on Sunday. Not quite a giant killing perhaps but certainly an Abel Ruiz vs Anthony Joshua style coupon-buster.
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