Frank Lampard said tactics may be tweaked but standards will never be dropped as he looks to build on Everton's emphatic win over Crystal Palace.
The Blues produced their most dominant performance of the season as they overcame Patrick Vieira's side last weekend, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Anthony Gordon and Dwight McNeil finding the back of the net. The display followed three defeats and set Lampard's Blues project back on course.
It also showcased traits Lampard and his coaches have been working towards with high intensity pressing and the use of width among the tactics that Palace found difficult to counter.
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The performance on Saturday was the latest stage of the development Lampard is hoping to oversee. After his first months were characterised by pragmatism to get through the relegation battle facing the Blues, he has now had his first summer to mould the team in his image. There were positive signs from the early weeks of the campaign as Everton overcame injuries to go six unbeaten, changing to a back four within that period. Lampard repeatedly stressed his rebuild will take time though, a point reinforced by the run of defeats against Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United.
The response to those defeats was the 3-0 win over Palace, a performance that saw the threads of Lampard's intended narrative drawn together with style. But Lampard, though pleased with that display, does not want his Everton project to stop there. 'Lampard ball' as some declared the style that saw Gordon's goal follow a move that started from Jordan Pickford and involved all but one player, will feature more flexibility rather than trying to master one style for all matches.
Asked, ahead of the trip to Fulham, whether the Palace performance represented a 'template' for how he wanted Everton to play week-in, week-out, he said it is his goal not to have to "replicate exact tactics or system for a game, because every game is a different challenge".
He continued: "We've seen that in travelling to Tottenham and then to Newcastle, there's different threats every week in this league so we have to adjust a little bit. In terms of the way the players worked and the idea of how we wanted to play and took that on board, there will be different tweaks to how we want to approach Fulham because Fulham are different to Palace. But what I was pleased about [against Palace] was the application of the lads in every position, in every relationship on the pitch, the way they took on what we wanted to do and just did it really well, that's certainly with and without the ball because I thought we were really good without possession last week in terms of our work ethic and our organisation around it."
While Lampard - who has suggested he is comfortable with the idea of reverting to five at the back if necessary - hopes to be flexible tactically, one thing he will not be flexible on is standards. The Blues boss consistently advocates the importance of players working hard in training - attributing his own success as a player to his dedication on the training pitch. He has introduced a player leadership team, the benefits of which appeared clear last week after that group oversaw a dressing room inquest following the Newcastle defeat which identified issues that were addressed for Palace, and a fine system to police discipline.
On Thursday, Lampard explained: "We reached a standard going into that game, we produced and we have to keep that standard, never become complacent, never believe the next game will be easier, because they are all harder, and continue in that way. If we do that then I think we have got a chance of having a good season."
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