It was almost as if Diego Simeone had rocked up at Anfield on Sunday afternoon. The tactics on show from Everton is what Lampard has learned from Jose Mourinho at Chelsea: feigning injury and slowing down the play at every opportunity. They are anti-football tactics, Mourinho has done it and Simeone does it, but it’s just whether the Everton faithful will be happy to watch that.
You don’t mind teams defending, but I’m thinking about the likes of Alan Ball, Colin Harvey and Howard Kendall and all the great midfielders Everton have had over the years. Thiago made more passes than the entire Everton team, which is absolutely incredible. Liverpool had 85 per cent possession, that’s never happened in the derby before. Sam Allardyce got a draw a few years ago and even he managed more than that.
It was a bit of a shock to see Everton playing that way but if you want to go to those depths to get a point, they’re entitled to do it. That’s how desperate Lampard was and he saw that as his best chance of getting a point at Anfield. I’m just glad football won in the end.
