The Everton midfielder Amadou Onana has revealed he watches clips of Frank Lampard’s goals on a weekly basis in an attempt to improve as a box-to-box player.
Onana has made a strong start at Goodison Park after his summer move from Lille but has yet to open his account in 14 appearances. The 21-year-old has been studying footage of his manager, the highest-scoring midfielder in Premier League history with 177 league goals, as he looks to improve his finishing skills and all-round game.
The Belgium international said: “That aspect of his game he is trying to give me and that is what is missing. I have watched his clips and goals and I think if I had his shooting ability I would be a very good player. He didn’t tell me to watch them, he is a very humble guy and that is what I like about him. He could have been like: ‘Hey, I am Frank Lampard, look at what I did,’ but he is really not like that. He is just a humble guy speaking to us normally and respectfully. I really like him.
“I watch his goals regularly, once a week, but even before I came to Everton I watched his goals. I have been watching the Premier League since I was seven or eight so if you talk about the Premier League you have to mention his name.”
Onana visited Everton’s new stadium at Bramley Moore dock this week as the impressive development gathers pace on the banks of the River Mersey. He has been working intensely with Lampard in training and claimed the 44-year-old can still outshine many of his players.
The midfielder, who hopes to be included in Roberto Martínez’s Belgium squad for the World Cup, added: “He’s still very good. He doesn’t really want to show it because he’s not a show-off guy but we all know he’s better than many of us!
“We spend a lot of time analysing sequences of the games. He is giving me advice about my positioning, how to be decisive and when to get into the box. There are a lot of things that we have been working on but especially my finishing because I think this is one of the missing parts of my game. I think that is what makes a box-to-box midfielder special, having the ability to do both tasks defensively and offensively so that is what I am trying to do.”
