English Premier League club, Everton is one of the clubs that is quite active in bringing in new faces in the mid-season transfers. After successfully bringing in Frank Lampard as team coach, Everton are exploring several new players. Van De Beek of Manchester United and Dele Alli of Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly agreed to join Lampard at Everton.
These two players are considered creative midfielders who also contribute to scoring goals. However, their performance has been somewhat sluggish in the last few seasons. The hope is, together with Lampard, both De Beek and Alli can find the quality of their game again.
Frank Lampard factor could be a plus point for Everton. Although his experience is still green as a coach, Lampard had proven himself in his first season when he coached his former club, Chelsea. During his first season as coach, Chelsea were shackled by a player transfer ban. Lampard took advantage of the available players and combined them with players from the club’s academy.
The Lampard way is successful. Chelsea’s performance did not drop too much. In fact, Chelsea managed to enter the top four of the English League competition. No doubt, the club also put great trust in Lampard in the second season. Unmitigated, Lampard was given the freedom to bring in several talented players from European clubs.
Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, E. Mendy, Thiago Silva, H. Ziyech, and B. Chilwell are some of the names that complete Lampard’s squad in the second season. However, this project appears to be a failure. Chelsea’s path in the Premier League is stumbling. The big investment at the start of the season seems to have stalled. As a result, Lampard was sacked midway through the 2020/21 season and replaced by Thomas Tuchel.
A year Lampard vacuum from the coaching chair. It was rumored to be the coach of Aston Villa, but then Villa chose Steven Gerrard. This time, Lampard accepted the proposal of Everton. Everton, who sacked Rafael Benitez, needed a coach who could re-elevate the team’s performance. Everton is one of the dark horse clubs in the English League, which often troubles established teams in the Premier League.
Of course, Everton’s choice of Lampard is well-founded. The introduction factor to the English football climate could be one reason. In which case, Lampard does not need to take much time to adapt to the demands of the Premier League. In addition, coaching Everton became a second chance. It can be said as a moment to hone his skills as a coach as well as an opportunity to prove himself as one of the British coaches to be reckoned with.
Yes, in the midst of the exodus and influence of foreign coaches in the Premier League, the presence of an English coach is indispensable. However, foreign coaches often carry certain concepts that are attached to the system that is attached to their home country. For example, the gegenpressing system generally adopted by German coaches such as Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool), Thomas Tuchel (Chelsea), and Ralf Rangnick (Manchester United) can also influence the style of play in the Premier League in general.
Then, Manchester City under the control of Pep Guardiola and Arsenal in the hands of Mikel Arteta almost adopted the same style from Spain, namely the pattern of play from foot to foot or better known as Tiki-taka. Antonio Conte from Italy who coached Tottenham Hotspur gave its own color. The Italian style, which is thick with a tight and solid defensive style, can also color the Premier League.
This style enliven the English League. It could also affect English football. If the influence of English coaches is minimal in big clubs, the style of English football becomes gray. It can be a serious challenge for national team coaches in creating a team of players from different styles at their club. Therefore, the presence of an English coach like Lampard at Everton could have a good impact on English football. It’s not impossible, success at Everton could be a stepping stone to coach a bigger club or an opportunity to coach the England national team in the future.
When Lampard wants to hone his coaching qualities with Everton, Van De Beek can use the opportunity to play at Everton as a second chance. Practically, this Dutch player has failed to appear in the MU uniform. At Ajax, Van De Beek became one of the team’s star players. From 175 games with Ajax, this 24-year-old player scored 41 goals and 34 assists. On this basis, MU desperately bought him from Ajax in 2020. However, Van De Beek’s quality was sluggish when he was in the MU uniform. Almost two seasons with Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, Van De Beek failed to prove himself.
Had promised to be part of Ralf Rangnick’s game, but the same situation still happened. Therefore, agreeing to be loaned can be an alternative to restore their best performance. Perhaps, Van De Beek’s freedom as he experienced at Ajax did not happen at MU. In the midst of competition from star players, Van De Beek is confined to one role. Unlike when he was at Ajax, Van De Beek got a somewhat flexible role in the midfield, where he not only managed the game, but also helped the team attack. Exactly what Bruno Fernandes played under Solksjaer.
Van De Beek will work alongside Lampard at Everton. Lampard’s project at Everton became very convincing when Dele Alli also joined Everton. So, Lampard has two attacking midfielders who can lift the team’s performance. At Everton Lampard can show his quality as a coach from England. This can be a positive point for the Premier League in general. Meanwhile, Van De Beek needs to prove his quality during his loan spell at Everton. 6 months on loan at Everton could be a second chance for Van De Beek as a talented player.
ASL
