Everton have a list of players drawn up to target during the January transfer window.
Strengthening Frank Lampard’s attacking options is the priority, with the club exploring the potential to sign more than one forward player. Lampard told the ECHO preparations for the window had been ongoing for some time, though there is an understanding the World Cup will further complicate a notoriously difficult time for business.
Everton are not in a position to spend without conscience, however, and finding improvements within the existing squad will be crucial to making progress this season. The belief at Finch Farm is this is a side in transition and that developing tactics and integrating summer signings, many of whom arrived well into this season, is essential to moving forward. There is confidence this will happen.
Speaking with the ECHO in Australia, during the club's involvement in the Sydney Super Cup this week, Lampard accepted growing pains were visible during the 15 games of the Premier League campaign so far. But he believes this is an inevitable part of the pathway to improve from a side that narrowly avoided relegation and is unable to spend its way up the table.
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The summer itself was difficult - the late confirmation of Everton’s Premier League status prevented early moves from being made. The club’s proximity to financial regulations influenced who Lampard and director of football Kevin Thelwell could move for, and when. As a result, much of the business came after the sale of Richarlison was sanctioned and several games into a season that, due to the World Cup, had started early.
With pre-season plans then hit by the injury to Dominic Calvert-Lewin on the eve of the new campaign, assessing where Everton ‘should be’ is a difficult exercise, Lampard said. Reflecting on the past four months, he told the ECHO: “Going into the season it was hard to set expectations. The reality was that we were bringing in players throughout the window going right into the season. So, I think it's a hard one even now to put your finger on what your expectations would be, even with the hindsight, at 15 games, because the first period of the season, five games or so, we played without an out-and-out number nine other than maybe Salomon Rondon for a half against Nottingham Forest, because then Neal [Maupay] arrived around that period and was available after Leeds, Conor [Coady] arriving, Amadou [Onana] arriving.
"The putting together of the squad and the changes that we made were there to improve us as a team and improve the squad - we're much more of a balanced squad now than where we were at times last year. I think that's really clear.”
Heading into the final week before the World Cup break, Lampard and his team were reasonably content. There had been difficult moments - the consecutive defeats to Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United among them. But there had been positives too. The emphatic win over Crystal Palace had been the purest expression yet of what Lampard is aiming towards, while there was the comeback win over Southampton and the way the Blues went toe-to-toe with Liverpool in a Merseyside derby played at breakneck speed. There was the resilience displayed in draws at Leeds United and Fulham while the relationship and influence of James Tarkowski and Conor Coady has strengthened Everton on and off the pitch. The form of Alex Iwobi and Jordan Pickford has been another plus, while Nathan Patterson has shone since making his Premier League debut against Chelsea and continued to impress beyond the move from five at the back to four.
Ahead of Leicester much of the talk was of Everton entering the top half of the table with a win. One damaging week later, after the 2-0 defeat to Brendan Rodgers’ side and league and Carabao Cup losses at Bournemouth, all of a sudden the Blues were facing the break just one point and one place above the relegation zone. Lampard said: “My feeling is that the team absolutely was improving in terms of we'd beaten Palace, played probably our best game of the season. We drew at Fulham and I wasn't mad on the performance but we showed an element of resilience. But Leicester, in terms of when you look at the basic elements of the game, we could have easily got a draw in different circumstances. So at that point I'm pretty happy with the direction we're going in and then we get two poor performances against Bournemouth and I do feel that's just part of where we're at in reality.”
Lampard and his coaching team view the defeat by Leicester as a missed opportunity from which they could take positives. They point to Iwobi and Calvert-Lewin’s good chances and that it took Youri Tielemans’ wonderful long range effort to break the deadlock as signs that showed Everton were competitive in a game that left many fans frustrated. Explaining his thoughts on that performance, Lampard said: “I wasn’t absolutely delighted with a 2-0 defeat. But I think when you analyse back, the first half particularly, our pressing in terms of winning the ball back, for instance, Alex’s chance comes from Gana [Gueye] jumping through as a number six to win a ball off their six, and Dominic and Alex had great chances and should score. We had quite a lot of moments like that when you reflect on the game. So we were pretty aggressive in terms of our midfield.
"And basically, when you set out a game plan, and the players do it, it is probably the best feeling that you get as a coach. So I think we thought that side of the game was good. And then in possession, in early parts of the game, we started to do to Leicester what they were doing to us, which was to move them and move their front and the start of their press, play with some patience and play through the lines and there were another couple of chances we could have created through passing from back to front.”
Ultimately it was a game that highlighted exactly where Everton are - in a process of transition. Lampard has moved to four at the back and is trying to change the style of play, to move away from the defensive, pragmatic approach required to stay up last season and towards a manner in which his players can be more progressive, have more territory and be more calculated in possession. Such a switch has brought teething problems, particularly going forward.
One area he has previously discussed is trying to change the mindset of wingers who for long parts of last season had to prioritise breaking from deep to relieve pressure over creative freedom. Another area is the role of Onana and the balance of the new-look midfield. Onana's role is under constant analysis from Lampard and those around him as, while he makes the side more solid when he plays alongside Gueye, this also impacts the side's ability to pose an attacking threat.
Detailing the thought process for Onana's role against Leicester, where he appeared to play higher than previously to the surprise of some supporters, Lampard explained: "What we decided was that if we pushed Alex [Iwobi] higher up the pitch, as we had done before, we felt that we would suffer a little bit more with being able to constantly get pressure on different sides of the pitch, as they changed the play a lot. So to be able to allow Alex to jump and be higher, and allow Amadou to jump and be higher, would allow us to put a more constant kind of pressure on them."
Lampard wants to maintain a 4-3-3 and refrain from pushing Iwobi forward into the role of a number 10 because of what he can provide from midfield. Where Onana fits in between Iwobi and Gueye is a question of about 10 metres and Lampard accepts finding Onana's most effective position is an ongoing process, a learning curve for him and a player who is just 21 and only months into his Premier League career. He said: "I think the question is about trying to get the best out of him when we are in possession. And that's probably a bit of a process for us and him, a case of how high we want him and sometimes how much we want him a little bit deeper. Because against Newcastle, we played him deeper, pretty much next to Gana [Gueye], and it affected our play through the lines, we couldn't be as fluent... So it's trying to search for the right tweaks at the right time. There's maybe some work to be done in trying to find that right combination [in midfield] and I think that's pretty understandable. But this break is also a time of reflection to try and make sure we get the right balance."
Working out Onana's most effective position, how to get the best out of the wingers and how to play to Maupay's strengths are all issues Lampard believes will be resolved with time. But in the harsh reality of the Premier League, lessons have to be learned quickly. And for all his confidence in his side becoming stronger and more effective he does believe the January transfer window presents an opportunity to carry on his rebuild. He said: "The reality is we will try and do the business that we can with an understanding of what we want to do - we want to help the squad in attacking areas, that is clearly the area that we want to help as a priority."
Lampard and Thelwell have a list of targets and the pair, who get on well with each other, are in constant communication over their plans. One of the considerations for Thelwell not joining the squad on the trip to Australia was the impact the 11 hour time difference would have on his ability to make and take important calls. What they will be able to do in January will depend on a host of factors, including outgoings from the current squad and the World Cup - with most teams waiting to see how their players return from the tournament before finalising their plans.
They will still have to operate within a tight budget and, regardless, they are intent on sustainable progress - so are unwilling to gamble what money they do have on risks that could hamper the long-term overhaul of the squad they are intent on pursuing. They are in a stronger position than the summer though, knowing what resources they have available and not conceding a headstart to others because of uncertainty about their imminent Premier League status.
There is an acknowledgement that, while the best solution to the goalscoring issue lies within the squad - getting Calvert-Lewin fit - action needs to be taken to improve Lampard's options. A profile of the type of player they want has been drawn up and there is an intent on getting two attacking players if possible. Lampard said the two were calculated in their summer activity and aligned in their approach, which pleased him.
He added: "We were very clear about what the expectancy was this year, because we're not naïve. When we were where we were last year, there's probably two things [to consider] - firstly, our points just to stay up, and secondly, the ability to play in a way that we want to play as a team regularly. That is to have more possession off the ball, to have more territory, where we're in the opposition half, and not to be this team that we'd become, which was a low-build, counter-attack team. We want to move that on. So that process is not an overnight process. We have to work towards that."
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