Frank Lampard heaped praise on Anthony Gordon after his impressive performance against Brentford.
In the face of huge pressure amid speculation over Chelsea's interest in him, the 21-year-old produced a moment of sheer quality to score his first goal of the campaign. Everton were unable to hang on to seal a valuable three points but Lampard said he saw positives in the performance.
And, with new signing Neal Maupay set to boost the squad and Dominic Calvert-Lewin closing in on his return from injury, the Blues boss insisted: "We will get better."
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Gordon broke the deadlock after collecting a ball over the top from Conor Coady before taking a touch and slotting beyond David Raya. Lampard said he enjoyed the goal, which came after conversations between the pair on the starlet's finishing.
He said: "Anthony made a great run, it was great timing, a great pass. I thought his composure was great. The next step for Anthony is in front of goal, we work and talk about it a lot, and he showed great composure. He waited, took another touch and then finished and I’m delighted for him. I thought his all round performance was great. There is pressure on him, it's normal, ]he’s a boy, people are talking about him, and I thought he handled it brilliantly."
Lampard said he started without his only fit recognised striker - Salomon Rondon - as he wanted to target the space between Brentford's players - a ploy utilised to effect with a number of searching long balls from Coady and James Tarkowski.
He explained: "It’s what I wanted from Anthony and Demarai [Gray] - to run in between their centre backs and full-backs - and they did it... We wanted some real mobility in the team. My options are limited up front but at the same time the players I can play, they do have mobility and quality. We wanted to threaten the back line, which we did, but also we [showed] we could play today. We used Amadou [Onana], we used Alex [Iwobi] in midfield."
Commenting on the draw, Lampard classed the performance as a positive one as his side grows into the season and added: "There were a lot of positives and we will get better. We now have Neal [Maupay] in and we have Dominic [Calvert-Lewin] coming back. We will get better because it will just firm us up at the top end of the pitch but there are other parts of the team I’m really pleased with how we are moving. Have we got as many points as we want and we deserve? I don’t think so. But is today a good-earned, a hard-earned point? Yes.”
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