Five problems Frank Lampard must fix at crisis-hit Everton like getting Van de Beek up to speed and huge rebuild job
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FRANK LAMPARD kicks off his reign as new manager of Everton with the FA Cup visit of Brentford.
A march to Wembley is not his priority so a first piece of silverware since the 1995 triumph in the world’s oldest knock-out competition would be a bonus.
Premier League survival is the No.1 target after six miserable years under majority owner Farhad Moshiri that see Lamps as the seventh boss in that time.
The club from the blue side of Stanley Park have become a financial mosh pit off the pitch and on it under sacked Rafa Benitez began digging a hole towards the Championship.
Things went south under the ex-Chelsea boss after another former Blues tactician Carlo Ancelotti headed to Real Madrid.
Now Chelsea legend Lamps arrives with old team-mate Ashley Cole and Everton legend Duncan Ferguson among his staff.
To get things sorted there are five areas that Lampard has to get right to get the club out of the Toffee pudding they are stuck in.
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JORDAN PICKFORD
Gareth Southgate continues to see the goalkeeper as his No.1 choice for England.
Yet Pickford also continues to be like a cat on a hot tin roof and needs to calm down, calm down.
It’s five years since he arrived from Sunderland for a fee that now totals £30million because of add-ons, but he still lacks authority and his weakness in taking crosses hardly makes him boss of the box.
The 27-year-old has 42 caps but that international experience hasn’t smoothed off the rough edges that make him brilliant at times but almost always erratic.
DEFENCE
Lampard is not exactly blessed in the Row Z department - players clearing their lines is not something the Goodison rearguard is much good at.
There has been only one clean sheet in the last 14 Prem games and there is no dominant figure.
Yerry Mina should be that go-to character but is injury prone and gets caught too often with balls over the top.
Michael Keane has lost his England spot along with his mojo and the best of the bunch is Ben Godfrey who has been used as a full-back but who must be deployed in his natural role as a centre-back.
MIDFIELD
Donny van de Beek will become the centre of a new-look creative department, although the Dutchman has a lot to prove after being brought in on loan after his anonymous time at Old Trafford that doubled up as £35m-worth of failure.
Lampard barked at his players this week to ‘enjoy the ball’ but most of those in the middle of the park seemed to hate it.
Aboulaye Doucoure alongside Allan are likely to be asked to protect that dodgy defence, but they must also support attacks and give Van De Beek the chance to show he does have the personality to dictate a game.
ATTACK
Lampard has thrown a lot of eggs into Dele Alli’s basket, asking him to reprise the form that three years ago saw him rated as England’s best No.10 breaking into the box.
If he can form a relationship with Three Lions striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin ahead of him and Van De Beek behind - plus add a few goals - he might just break the hearts of those at Tottenham who let him go.
Demarai Gray, at just £1.7m the one success of the doomed 22-game Benitez era, is bound to figure in the mix.
There is also, of course, Richarlison, the Brazilian who has samba-style ability but the concentration levels of one of his country’s famous coffee beans, while Andros Townsend offers veteran experience from the right flank.
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Lack of funds will continue to hamper Lampard should he safely guide his new club away from danger.
Everton have lost a staggering £329m in the last three years – three times more than the figure normally allowed under Prem financial fair play regulations - so the fans shouldn’t expect any big hitting in the summer market.
Indeed, he is liable to need to raise funds to bring more able bodies in and at least £10m will have to be paid to Spurs for Dele Alli once he plays 20 games.
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The former Chelsea and Derby County manager will be in serious danger of losing Calvert-Lewin to Arsenal for around £55m, while he might choose to cash in on the skittish Richarlison.
Almost £600m has mainly been wasted on players on Moshiri’s watch – meaning the rebuilding job is going to need all of the two-and-a-half years of Lampard’s contract for Frank to fix things.
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