Everton manager Frank Lampard believes it’s “more important than ever” to start climbing the Premier League table while also revealing that watching box sets are helping him to get a better work life balance than when in his previous roles.
Speaking to the Gegen Pod on Optus Sport, Lampard, whose side avoided what would have been Everton’s first relegation in 71 years with a dramatic 3-2 comeback win over Crystal Palace in the final home game of last season and are currently one point and one place above the drop zone, said: “I think we’ve got a lot of work to do. Our position in the table was real last year and our position is real right now.
“I keep saying there’s nothing that can be given to you or deserved in this game to get to where we want to be. We want to be among the elite, we want to be looking upwards towards European places.
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“It’s not the time to say it, it’s just the time to work towards it. All the bits in the middle are really important now, more important than ever to try and push up towards that area as everyone is trying to do the same and we have to play our part in that.”
The 44-year-old added: “We’re working a lot on the training ground on short term to improve results and long term the style of play. We see some shoots of it and some weeks we don’t and we work on it on the training ground.
“That’s where we’re at. My main job is to work on the training pitch because for me that’s 80% of my job.
“The other parts of my job are to build relationships with the players to give them the environment they need and to build a relationship with the broader club, the people who work at Everton outside of the playing staff and the fans, that’s a huge part of my job. That’s a constant job to keep trying to do that and the best way is through results on the pitch.”
Lampard, who won the Premier League title three times as a player with Chelsea and is the top scoring non-striker in the competition’s history, explained that the challenge to improve players on the training ground is the element of his role that most appeals to him. He said: “Being on the training pitch and preparing for games (is his favourite part of the job). I decided pretty quickly when I wanted to manage, that I wanted to coach.
“I went and watched Pep Guardiola for a few days because of my Manchester City connection, I watched Eddie Howe when he was at Bournemouth, I did a lot of behind the scenes studying, asking questions of people who had done the job. My real feeling was that the modern player wants to feel that they’re coached by the coach.
“This older idea of the manager overseeing and then picking the team on a Friday, for me is pretty redundant now. You have to be there on the grass with them, you have to be able to stand there with them and talk through what you want, let them feel your work ethic and show emotion, all that side of it.
“That’s my favourite bit because if you do that and you get improvement or you get a result at the end of the week, you really feel like you’ve done your job. Some of the things in the job I don’t love, the meetings you sit through and organising what trips look like with how many meal times you need.
“That’s where you can delegate and have people who are better at certain things than you are. There are a lot of things that I’m not brilliant at but my job is to be the first one who is on the pitch taking responsibility for the coaching and I love that side of it.”
When it comes to the best part of being in charge of Everton, Lampard added: “The opportunity and the room for improvement. I think it’s a huge club with great tradition and great history but we’re not there now and that means that there’s a lot of work to do.
“That means there’s room for improvement and it’s challenging but if we can see that improvement and give the fans and this club the improvement then that for me would be a great honour and something I could be proud of. That’s something I’m working towards.”
After spending the 2018/19 season in charge of Derby County, Lampard returned to Stamford Bridge as manager but he explained he has changed one major part of his routine since his time at the Chelsea helm. He said: “I tell you what I’m doing now, whether it’s good or bad, is watching more box sets at different times as a break away from football than studying football every moment of my life. I wouldn’t say I was always like that at Chelsea but during the last six weeks when there was some pressure, you end up taking it home and working through the night a bit.
“Then you wake up and go again and it becomes a really tough thing. Talking about life balance, because I’m living in the north of England doing this job and my wife and family are down south, I do get time on my own it would be easy to go every night, all night working on training schedules and while that’s part of the job and you have to do that but I’ve given myself more balance and I occasionally give my mind a break from football more than I did at Chelsea.”
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