Get rid of the manager, they cried.
Get rid of the players, they now cry.
Frank Lampard, one of the darlings of
English football, will get a pass for
some time even if Everton get sucked
further into relegation trouble and for
sure needs time to sort out the mess,
with his side failing to register a shot
on target at St Mary’s. They meekly
surrendered to a Southampton side
that, by contrast, looked highly
motivated and imbued with purpose.
Away from the hype, Evertonians
are right to worry about whether
Lampard is the best man to get the
club out of their present fix. Fighting
a relegation battle is virgin territory
for Lampard, both throughout his
distinguished playing career and in
his short time as manager. He may be
as articulate as ever entering into the
realms of the unknown, but the
openness should not extend to the
way Everton defended against Ralph
Hasenhüttl’s side.
During his stuttering start,
Lampard hasn’t spared his
It is approaching five years since
Wout Weghorst scored from outside
the penalty area, which is one good
indication of the type of striker
acquired by Burnley last month.
PAUL ROWAN
GARY JACOB
and help Burnley to secure a seventh
successive season in the top flight.
A couple of months ago Weghorst
was playing for Wolfsburg in the
Champions League and he probably
had to think twice
about such a move.
“I dreamt about this
as a kid and it was a
special moment to score,” Weghorst
said. “I want to pay Burnley back and
it’s all about goals as a striker.
It was an important win.”
At 29, Weghorst is making
up for lost time. He jokes that
his mother used to complain
that he kicked her in the
stomach when she was
pregnant, so she knew
he would become a
footballer. He played for
amateur clubs until the age
of 20, while helping out in the family
business, which operates about 130
petrol stations in the Netherlands.
He took a diploma in business
administration and worked as a skiLate bloomer Weghorst looks a Burnley bargain
Of the 83 goals since, 57 were
scored with his right foot and 16 with
his head, which may be a fair return
for a man who stands 6ft 6in, making
him the fourth tallest outfield player
in the Premier League.
But one of football’s late bloomers,
and one of the most underrated
strikers in Europe in recent seasons,
is anything but a mere beanpole or
battering ram. During his four
seasons in Germany he averaged a
goal every two matches and claimed
a healthy share of assists, while only
Robert Lewandowski struck more
times in the Bundesliga during that
period. That record invited Arsenal,
Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester
City to have a look at him in recent
seasons, but Burnley were not put off
by his lack of pace and paid only half
of the £25 million they received from
Newcastle United for Chris Wood.
It will be one of the best pieces of
business if, after opening his account
in his fourth game for the club, he can
continue to deliver goals and assistsinstructor. It was not until he was 26
that he played for one of the bigger
Dutch sides, AZ Alkmaar, where he
last scored from outside the
area with a header against
Ajax in April 2017.
On Saturday he
was a nuisance,
linking play,
setting up Josh
Brownhill for
Burnley’s second
and showing a
better touch than
he has been given
credit for in his
homeland, not to
mention a clinical finish
that made up for a couple
of missed chances in the
1-0 defeat by Liverpool.
Burnley collected a sixth
point from five matches,thanks also to Aaron Lennon’s
industry and fine finish, and falling the
right side of small margins, according
to their manager, Sean Dyche. It was
only a second league win this season,
and their first away win since May.
Brighton & Hove Albion were
weirdly off-colour, lacking intensity
and energy, and they passed
especially poorly from the back,
which had a knock-on effect for
the team. They have won only one
of ten matches without Adam
Webster at the back and Shane Duffy,
who came in, was a liability, with
Lewis Dunk suspended. Yves
Bissouma was anonymous in midfield.
Adam Lallana, who called it an
“awakening moment”, headed their
best chance wide.
“There was a lot of learning to be
done as it was uncomfortable for us
all, including myself,” Graham Potter,
the Brighton head coach, said.
“It was an uncharacteristic
performance. The second goal took a
little bit of the wind out of our sails.”Brighton
RATINGS
Brighton (4-1-3-2) R Sánchez 5 — T Lamptey 6,
S Duffy 3, J Veltman 4, M Cucurella 5 —
Y Bissouma 4 — J Moder 5 (S March 55min, 5)
A Lallana 5 (L Trossard 55, 5), A Mac Allister 5 —
N Maupay 5, D Welbeck 5 (E Ferguson 68, 5).
Booked Duffy.
Burnley (4-4-2) N Pope 7 — C Roberts 8,
N Collins 7, B Mee 7, E Pieters 6 — A Lennon 7
(M Lowton 90+2), J Cork 7, J Brownhill 8,
D McNeil 7 — M Cornet 7 (J Rodriguez 55, 7),
W Weghorst 9 (A Barnes 88). Booked Cork,
Roberts, Lennon, Brownhill.
Referee K Friend.Burnley
Weghorst 21, Brownhill 40, Lennon 69Only Lewandowski scored
more goals than Weghorst
in his time in Germany0
3
6 1GG Monday February 21 2022 | the times
thegame
Lampard facing
his toughest test
predecessor Rafa Benítez, with whom
he had a frosty relationship at
Chelsea almost a decade ago. No
stories about tomato ketchup being
banned, but Lampard hasn’t been
slow to point out the mood of
despondency around the place at
home and the players’ propensity to
drop their heads on their travels.
Yet two of Everton’s poorer
performers against Southampton
were Lampard’s high-profile signings
in the January transfer window,
Donny van de Beek and Dele Alli —
the latter for the 15 minutes that he
was on the pitch at the end. Van de
Beek’s role in Southampton’s
opening goal, when he
unnecessarily played his
defence into trouble
and Dele’s cheap
concession of the ball
for the second were
bad enough, but
neither exactly busted
a gut in trying to
rescue the situation
either.
Only Jordan Pickford,
who pulled off a string of good
saves either side of being beaten by a
low shot from Stuart Armstrong in
the 52nd minute, could really say that
he put his body on the line for
Everton. And even he looked well
beaten by the time the substitute
Shane Long headed in Southampton’s
second goal from Tino Livramento’s
cross just before the end.
The comfort of Southampton’s
victory was hardly a surprise as they
have a good home record, which is
getting better, and Everton’s form as
the worst away side in the Premier
League doesn’t look like changing any
time soon. Everton couldn’t cope with
Southampton’s pressing game and
were far too passive themselves
without the ball, which meant thatJames Ward-Prowse was able to run
the show in midfield, while Kyle
Walker-Peters and Livramento were
both dangerous raiding down the
flanks. Armando Broja, the on-loan
Chelsea striker, grows in stature with
every game.
Now that Goodison Park is no
longer an anti-Benítez bear-pit,
Everton will probably be able to
survive based on their home form, but
Lampard desperately needs the
players to accept more responsibility
for their fate. Richarlison was
nowhere to be seen on Saturday,
while Dominic Calvert-Lewin has
also struggled since his return
from injury.
“After the first 20
minutes and early on in
the second half, he
didn’t get enough
service. We didn’t play
through the lines well
enough,” said
Lampard. “We can’t use
Dominic as a battering
ram. He has too much
quality for that and I don’t
want to play that way.
“It’s two-fold. Give Dominic time
and make sure we give him the
service and play around him as much
as we can to get the benefit out of
him and all the forward-end players.
When he gets fitter and we get better,
he will be a big threat for us.”
That needs to happen sooner rather
than later. With home games coming
up against Manchester City in the
League and Boreham Wood in the FA
Cup, it may be a little longer before
we find out if Lampard really is
starting to turn things round, but he is
facing the biggest challenge of his
footballing career. We will learn
plenty more about him in the coming
months and he will also have to find
some hidden depths.The relegation battle
Southampton
S Armstrong 52, Long 84^2RATINGS
Southampton (3-4-3): F Forster 6 —
V Livramento 6, J Bednarek 7, M Salisu 7 —
S Armstrong 7 (M Djenepo 90+3min), O Romeu 7,
J Ward-Prowse 7, K Walker-Peters 8 — A Broja 7
(S Long 83), C Adams 7 (A Armstrong 90+1),
M Elyounoussi 6.
Everton (4-4-2): J Pickford 7 — S Coleman 5,
M Holgate 5, M Keane 6, J Kenny 5 — A Iwobi 5
(A Townsend 65, 6), Allan 5 (A Gomes 45, 5),
D Van de Beek 5, A Gordon 5 (D Alli 75) —
D Calvert-Lewin 5, Richarlison 5. Booked Allan,
Calvert-Lewin.
Referee A Madley. Attendance 31,312.Everton 0
Dele struggled
off the bench
to leave
Lampard, inset,
with much
to consider