‘No different’: Frank Lampard namedrops Leeds after Everton lose again

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Frank Lampard has made it clear that Everton’s situation is ‘no different’ to the likes of Leeds United after they suffered a costly defeat at Burnley on Wednesday night, as he told Sky Sports.

Everton, who are hovering above the Premier League’s relegation zone, suffered a 3-2 defeat to 18th-placed Burnley.

That’s only two wins Lampard has picked up in the league ever since he replaced Rafa Benitez in the Goodison Park dugout towards the end of January.

As things stand, Sean Dyche’s side are now one point behind the Toffees, six behind Leeds, but they have two games in hand and seven behind Newcastle with one game in hand.

All in all, these last few weeks of the season will become very nervy for a lot of teams.

No more so than perhaps Everton, who haven’t been relegated since the 1950s, as Lampard was asked by a Sky reporter if there is more pressure on his team, more than those around them, because of the size of the club.

“Is your situation the same compared to the teams around you, because you are Everton,” asked the Sky reporter. “Because of the history. There feels like more pressure.”

Lampard responded: “It feels the same to me, whether that’s true, maybe. It shouldn’t be absolute in football terms. I understand that. 

“But the reality is what it is. We are no different to Burnley, no different to Watford, Norwich or Leeds United. Or the teams around us.

“It’s just where we are at as a football club. Players don’t need to listen or read anything. Or get involved in anything other than turning up tomorrow and getting right for Saturday.” 

You are never too big to go down, Leeds United are proof of that, and so are two-time European Cup winners, Nottingham Forest.

But as the games fade away from Everton, they are slowly hurdling towards the bottom three and into the abyss.

When Leeds dropped, on the back of financial ruin, it took the Yorkshire giants 17 years to come back up.

Since the turn of the century, Forest are yet to taste top-flight football again, which is remarkable given their rich history.

Everton’s problems aren’t just on the field of play because things are also problematic off it, so the last thing they need is a new stadium, but that’s what is happening.