View: Three things Coventry fans need to know about Lampard's time at Everton

Former Everton boss Frank Lampard has been appointed as Coventry City manager and Sky Blues fans should know these three things about his stint at Goodison Park.

The Chelsea legend was sacked by the Blues in January 2023 with the club sitting second bottom in the Premier League after he had secured a dramatic survival in the 2022/23 season. [BBC]

He returns to full-time management following a brief spell as Chelsea interim manager following Graham Potter’s dismissal in April 2023.

The ex-England international will find himself in a tough situation with supporters still angry that Coventry sacked popular manager Mark Robins.

Lampard had good relationship with Everton fans

The most positive thing about Lampard’s time at Goodison Park was his relationship with the supporters.

The passion that the former Chelsea man showed as his side survived with one match to go in the 2021/22 season did not go unnoticed by the Goodison faithful.

He was the first manager that Blues fans have properly connected with since David Moyes as he genuinely bought into the club.

He clearly cared about the Toffees and wanted to succeed at the club although it was an unlikely task with the off-the-field issues at the club.

He will have to establish a rapport with his new club’s supporters rather quickly as a result of replacing a very popular manager that guided the team to the play-off final in the 2022/23 season.

Lampard’s Everton were a mess tactically

Lampard’s time in charge at Everton was marred by a poor tactical approach, especially in his first full season.

The 46-year-old had initially resorted to a conservative 3-4-3 that helped the Blues ensure safety in the 2022/23 season after it became clear his preferred possession-based attacking style would not work at Everton.

However, his long-term plan was to shift to a 4-3-3 system with an emphasis on dominating the ball and pressing high, however, the Blues squad was ill-equipped to deal with that style of play.

The more expansive Lampard tried to play, though, the more uncomfortable the players seemed.

There was never a noticeable shift in the club’s identity on the pitch, Opta data at the time showed that his team were the third slowest at progressing the ball up the pitch but ranked 14th for passes per sequence [The Athletic].

His side struggled to keep the ball or progress it, did not create many clear chances and were very vulnerable in defence.

Off-field issues marred his time at Goodison

The biggest problem in Lampard’s time with the Toffees was the same issues that the club face today.

Off-field issues hampered the former Chelsea man on numerous occasions.

Everton needed to make a big sale to appease Premier League profit and sustainability regulations as the club made losses of nearly £400 million over a four-year period, so Richarlison was the casualty.

That certainly did not help Lampard, losing his star player, combine that with the fact that Dominic Calvert-Lewin was injured for a substantial chunk of his reign and recruitment was a mess.

This was true especially when it came to forwards, Lampard wanted Matheus Cunha, who instead ended up on loan at Wolves with an option to purchase, then he wanted Danny Ings but that move failed because the Blues could not afford him with their financial issues.

His talent ID is solid but maybe he is made out to be a director of football rather than a manager.

In other Everton news, Sean Dyche could axe Abdoulaye Doucoure v Manchester United as he battles to save his job.

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